Boring logistics pictures of the day: 2nd Type 901 Class Fleet Replenishment Ship ready for commission.

With a displacement of more than 45,000Tons,  this little boat can carry a lot of goods.

Photos of the day: 5th PLAN Marine Brigade with Lynx 8x8 all-terrain buggy

Photo released on Nov 24, 2018 by the PLAN WeChat account.

Thursday, April 12, 2018

5th PLAN Marine Brigade update (4/12/2018)

Recon elements of the 5th Marine Brigade just received its Lynx 8x8 All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) .   The fact that they are issued ATV instead of dedicated amphibious IFV is a telling story of what their intended role will be.

Photo credit goes to Andrew KC

Note some of the smurfs are still sporting 1970's old "steel helm"

Tuesday, January 09, 2018

The 5th PLAN Marine Briagde is here

It just completed its first field deployment drill in minus ten degrees near its home port of Qingdao (here).   The 1st and 2nd PLAN Marine Brigades are home-ported in Zhanjiang, South Sea Fleet.  Since the 5th Marine Briagde is in Qingdao, it is likely under the North Sea Fleet.

Wishful thinking or the little engine that could?

The Lynx 8x8 all-terrain (87 hp diesel) has been in PLA service since 2010 and has long been associated with PLA's heliborne assault doctrine development from the get-go.   The Lynx is also widely reported in service in rough terrains such as Xinjiang, Tibet and near the Sion-Vietnam boarder.

CCTV capture from 2010 and photo from 2011

Now it is being aggressively marketed - judging by recent Zhuhai Airshow - as an entire light family of assault and heliborne solutions ranging from transport, indirect and direct fire support, to air defense

 107mm MRL

 Light Trans

 120mm Mortar-Howitzer

  120mm Mortar-Howitzer

  120mm Mortar-Howitzer

 120mm Mortar

 107mm MRL

 82mm rapid mortar

 23mm Autocannon + MANPAD

 Gatling gun + 2x2 MANPAD

Sunday, November 11, 2018

GIF of the day: VP16B Remote control 40mm fire support platfrom

Chassis is the standard "Lynx" all-terrain vehicle that has been in service with the PLA for over a decade.

The design is clearly geared toward rapid deployment. A design that can bring light, easy transportable, fire support to both the Marine and the Airborne units

China's first unmanned missile boat missile test live video

Outlook II UMB is clearly based on a commercial design and first revealed at this year's Zhuhai airshow (here). Here's its missile test vid

The UMB is 7.5 meters long, 2.7 meters wide, with a displacement of 3.7 tons, and a maximum speed of 45 knots

Non-news of the day: The first PLA operator of Norinco's ZTQ-15 105mm light tank is

the 123rd Combined Arms Brigade (合成第123旅), 75th Group Army, Southern Theater Command.

The 123rd is one of PLA's elite units guarding China's southern flank and considered to be one of Army's major amphibious units.   With that in mind, it is not unreasonable to assume that the 123rd is part of an contingency plan for an island 110 miles east of Fujian province.   Having this new light tank could come in handy, not just for amphibious landing east Fujian but several other scenarios around Southern China as well.


123rd Combined Arms Brigade was expended from the 369th Mechanized Infantry Regiment, 123rd Heavy Amphibious Mechanized Infantry Division, 41st Group Army, Guangzhou Military Region during the last round of PLA or-org an year and half ago.

 ZTQ-15 of the 123th

A fresh new paint job for the boys of the 62nd Combined-Arms Brigade, 76th Group Army, Western Theater Command

Finally proper desert camo for this important regional RRU

Sunday, August 05, 2018

62nd Combined-Arms Brigade, 76th Group Army, Western Theater Command

The 62nd is the second confirmed Type99A operator of the PLA (here) . The first one - of course - is the 112nd Heavy Mech Infantry Division.

This brigade traded in their Type96 for Type99A in Nov 2016 and received its Type04A IFV in May 2016

 AFT10 ATGW

 PHZ10 122-mm SPMRL

 Such a showoff

 PGZ09 35mm SPAAA