PLAN decommission of the day: Luda class DDG163

Farewell: China's first-generation guided missile destroyer decommissioned

Source
    People's Daily Online
Editor
    Huang Panyue



Type 051 guided missile destroyer Nanchang has been officially decommissioned as of Sept. 8, after serving in the Chinese Navy for almost 34 years. According to some, Nanchang was China's last active Type 051 destroyer.

Type 051 destroyers are China’s first generation of domestically-manufactured missile destroyers. The first Type 051 destroyer was commissioned on Dec. 31, 1971, and was later named Jinan. The commissioning of Jinan marked a historic moment for China, as that was when the country became capable of controlling its surrounding seas, according to Navy Today magazine.

Nanchang began to serve in the navy in 1982. Two years later, it sailed and anchored, for the first time, at the southernmost shoal of Zengmu Reef in the South China Sea during a 35-day patrol mission to the Nansha Islands, Navy Today reported.

The Type 051 destroyers have since been serving as coastal defense in the Nansha Islands. The decommissioned destroyer will be sent back to Nanchang, Jiangxi province, where it will become a major tourist attraction at a local military-themed park.

More mobile firepower to China's mountain infantry units

The PLL-09 122-mm self-propelled howitzer system fires at a simulated target during the live-fire training conducted by a mechanized infantry regiment under the PLA Western Theater Command in the Pamir mountains in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Sept. 9, 2016. The training aims to test the performance of the PLL-09 in plateau environment. (81.cn/ Wang Ning)

Photos of the day: Extended Range Full Bore – Base Bleed – Rocket Assisted (ERFB-BBRA) projectile in action.

This Rocket Assisted Norinco 155mm projectile has a range of 53KM.  It can be GPS guided and with a maximum rate of fire of up to eight rounds a minute. 

The PLZ-05 below firing the ERFB-BBBRA are members of the Arty Regt, 123rd Mech Inf Div, 41 Group Army, Southern Theater Command.

PLA in northern Australia, survival training or outdoor BBQ, your call.

Photos from the Kowari survival exercise

Communist propaganda of the day: Security guard of the G20

She is getting media's attention and not because of her look or her modeling skills that is for sure.

001A LIAONING II Class CV (CV17) construction update (Sept 3rd, 2016)

Island structure installed. 

Photos of the day: Combined tactical battalion airborne assault against a fixed position in the Tibetan mountains

Again, this little drill is part of a greater PLA defense strategy against a foreign power's newly created mountain strike corps.  It took place on August 19th.   China has to react to a force of 80,000 troops stationing right across the boarder, trained and equipped to invade.

Tuesday, July 05, 2016

Rapid reinforcement to Tibet.

Tibet is one of China's largest regions but with only three line brigades protecting it (52nd, 53rd and 54th mountain Brigades), clearly it's ORBAT is not geared for large scale military operations, especially in defense against a foreign power's new mountain strike corps.   To beef up, the PLA high command is shifting its 15th airborne corp for rapid reinforcement from Wuhan in time of crisis, hopeful this will buy time until REGFORCE reinforcements arrive.

Just last week, they conducted a 5000 meter supply and a SpOps insertion drop

 Go Pro!  

Dual-use airports help PLA Air Force cope with emergencies
Source: China Military OnlineEditor: Zhang Tao
2016-07-01 16:550

BIJIE, July 1 (ChinaMil) -- A joint meeting on the development of military-civilian integration of dual-use airports of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force was held in Beijing on June 17. The meeting deliberated and passed the "Interim Provisions of Operation Security at Dual-use Airports of the PLA Air Force."

Following the win-win principles for both the military and civilian sides, the provisions aimed at regulating the operating security works at dual-use airports, including the coordination mechanism, joint management, joint support and maintenance. The release of such provisions means that the development of military-civilian integration on airport resources between the PLA Air Force and civil aviation has entered the implementation phase.

The pilot work of such development started at Lhasa Gonggar Airport and Wuxi Shuofang International Airport since April, 2015. Its main purpose was to establish a complementary management mechanism with smooth coordination and shared resources to gradually form a support capability that guarantees flight safety at peace times and meets combat needs at wartimes.
The pilot programs have made significant achievement after the exploration over the past one year. The two airports mentioned above are good examples of dual-use airports.

Lhasa Gonggar Airport is one of the world's highest dual-use airports. It provides important support for Tibet's economic development and national security in China’s Southwestern region.

On the one hand, as an important force in Tibet’s transportation, the airport has made great contributions to Tibet's economic construction. It has safely transported more than six million passengers in total since it was put into use. The cargo throughput also surpassed 140,000 tons.

On the other hand, the airport is an important channel to transport the PLA's new recruits and strategic materials to Tibet. The airport is also a major "airborne bridgehead" in Southwest China.

It has been found that the development of military-civilian integration of dual-use airports has very important practical significance and strategic benefits. First, the dual-use airports greatly save the cost of airport construction. Second, such airports bring great benefits to both the military and civilian sides.

For the PLA Air Force, dual-use airports can significantly improve the support capability of military airports. Such dual use can provide more footholds for the Air Force to deal with emergencies and future operations. For the civil aviation industry, the dual use can greatly lift its transportation capacity, expand the volume of passengers and cargo throughput, and alleviate current shortages in civil airports.

Practice has proved that the construction of dual-use airport is a win-win move. For this reason, construction for this purpose has extended to more airports in China. As of now, China has a total of 214 civil airports, one third of which are dual-use ones.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Photos of the day: 15th Airborne's rapid deployment to Tibet.

Last week a mechanized regiment of 15th Airborne Corp, conducted a battalion size rapid deployment into the Tibetan Plateau.  Here are pictures from this "independent action" exercise.