Sunday, February 25, 2018

Captain Zhong Jiu Chen (钟久臣) Fujian costal defense brigade

Here is a story you don't read everyday -- Captain Zhong Jiu Chen welcomes his mother to his remote Beishuangdao island outpost after the Chinese New Year.

To supplement PLA's 67 military academies, including both commissioning academies and other basic military specialty schools to train qualified officers, the PLA adopted a program similar to the US ROTC in 2003.  “National Defense Scholars” as those undergrad students at civilian universities are called receive scholarship assistance of 5,000-10,000 yuan per year (2003 sum). In return, they are obligated to serve in the PLA afterward.  Again, an arrangement similar to the US ROTC program.

Like thousands other young Chinese who take advantage of such a program to pay for school. Captain Zhong was assigned to Beishuangdao as a freshly minted 2nd Lt after graduation in 2010 and has been stationed there for 8 years.

He is a father, a husband and a son, trying to getting through the day.  I just can't imagine he has any intention to destroy a certain nation 11640KM East of China.








Saturday, February 24, 2018

Photos of the day: Shanghai's busy shipyards Feb 23rd, 2018

Source FYJS



 DDG176 and DDG117 of Type052D Luyang III class
29th Type 054A FFG

7th and 8th Type815A  electronic surveillance ship

Two Type056
Yuzhao Class LPD number 5 and number 6


Friday, February 23, 2018

Photos of the day: Crazy Type79 tactical mod

While the PLA has long since gave up on the Type79 7.62x25mm Submachine Gun as a viable PDW option, this old girl seems to have found a nice niche within Chinese SWAT units.  Its complete lack of stopping power is more than compensated by its easy to use and maintain, its high rate of fire (1000 rounds/min) is a nice bonus in any urban CQC too.

Here are photos of Guangzhou City's Thunder SWAT showing off (here), one of the 36 SWAT units in this southern city of 14 million.  













 Yes, it is him.

Thursday, February 22, 2018

PA Posters of the day: Prohibition

The PLA Rocket Force -- you know, the folks in charge of China's nuke -- just released a bunch of public announcement posters reminding troops that Chinese New Year is no excuse to get wasted.  Those cartoon based PA Posters are pretty humorous in general but the best one, though, is this one:

It is forbidden to organize drinking party in celebration of important events like live fire missile launches
Yikes, I hope the prohibition is applicable to non-nuke missile launches only, you know, get wasted after wasting someone.   General Turgidson would be proud!















JL-9's new export variant, a first look.

After six light attack/Lead-in fighter training (LIFT) FTC-2000S, export variant of JL-9 Mountain Eagle, were delivered to the Sudanese Air Force in Nov 2017 (here).  AVIC is now busy working on the next FTC-2000 variant.  Judging by the model, the new variant is geared to carry the more advanced PL-9C short-range AAM, light PGM, J-7E/G style double delta wing and DSI inlet   The Sudanese FTC-2000S is seen with older PL-8 AAM.   

FTC-2000 is not state-of-the-art by any stretch of the imagination but it should be very competitive at the pricing department, especially to those existing J-7 customers. 

FTC-2000S in Sudanese three-tone desert camouflage and PL-8 AAM


Model of the next FTC-2000 variant





Friday, October 28, 2016

Promotional video capture of the day Guizhou JL-9











Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Army's (not Navy) island garrison



This might come as a surprise to many outside observers -- it is the ground army's area-of-responsibility to garrison and protect China's coastal islands, especially those dotted the Taiwan Strait.  Before the 2017 reorg, each coastal province has at least one Coastal Defense Regiment (CDR).  They are jointly supported by the local Police Armed Forces Departments(PAFDs) and the provincial Military Distract.  This arrangement helped to reduce the overall cost of manned those remote outpost, many of them without access to fresh water.   After 1949, many of Coastal Defense units saw action against KMT raids, such as the battle of DongShan Island in 1953 (here)

Shortly before dawn on 16 July 1953, the nationalist commander Hu Lien (胡琏) commanding his troops, totalling two divisions in 13 naval vessels and more than 30 motorized junks, sailed toward Dongshan Island, Fujian, attempting to retake the island from the communists who took the island from the Nationalists three years earlier in the Battle of Dongshan Island. In addition to the two army divisions, an elite paratroop division totaling 2,000 personnel in two brigades was deployed for the mission, and the total Nationalist force committed was just over 10,000.

Before the 2017 reorg, there were one CDR at Shantou Garrison District, one CDR at Zhuhai garrison District, and one LSM Dadui (regiment), one CDR at Zhanjiang military district,  Three CDR, one LSM Dahui under the then Nanjing MR and three CDR garrisoned in Shanghai.  Up north, there are four Coastal Defense Brigades (two in Liaoning and another two in Shangdong)

Photos of the Beishuangdao Island coastal defense garrison taken Feb 14th this year





Tuesday, September 06, 2011


Nanjing MR Landing Ship Unit

Unlike other major military organizations, The PLA ground force also has organic landing ship units attached to each of the coastal Military Regions (MR).   Nanjing MR's landing ship units are particularly strong -- boosting its own mobile dry dock and other support ships.   However, those small LSMs are small and only capable of reaching out 110 miles to the Pacific, East of Nanjing. 

Those amphibious assets are not tracked by most PLA watchers and generally ignored by those with only a passing interest.  




















The Army's own.  (N stands for Nanjing)




Previous blog entry;



Friday, March 19, 2010


An Army At Sea

Besides the PLAN, the Army also has an organic fleet for amphibious operations. Curious to see what "combat team" means.

Army vessels conduct exercise on sea

http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/news-channels/china-military-news/2010-03/19/content_4156420.htm

(Source: PLA Daily) 2010-03-19

At the beginning of the Year of Tiger, a vessel group of the Nanjing Military Area Command (MAC) of the PLA staged a maritime joint combat exercise in complex electromagnetic environment in a sea area of the East China Sea, symbolizing the leap of the army vessel troop unit from a “support team” to a “combat team”.

Since the founding of the team 8 years ago, the team has gradually gotten rid of the traditional mode of self-training, self-examination and self-assessment and actively carried out trans-theatre training, trans-sea-area support and trans-arm-and-service cooperation. It carried out joint trainings and joint exercises with more than 30 specialized teams of 10-plus arms and services in succession.

When it took back a batch of new equipment last November, it organized trainings on a multiple of key and difficult subjects including night navigation, navigation under foggy condition, navigation in the sea area with submerged reef, and navigation by breaking the ice in its voyage of more than 1,000 nautical miles.

In recent years, the team participated in 40-plus key exercises and trainings in succession with a total voyage of more than 240,000 nautical miles, and transported troops for more than 80,000 persons/times and heavy equipment for more than 3,000 units. Therefore, it was awarded the title of “Outstanding Unit in Military Training” by the general headquarters/departments of the PLA and the Nanjing MAC.

By Ni Minzhi and Duan Yaohui

Editor:Yang Ru

Landing and Support Ships of the Nanjing MR