Saturday, May 25, 2019

Historical photos of the day: DDG Nanchang, first of her name

DDG Nanchang the lead ship of the Type055 class of destroyer is the third PLAN naval vessel bears that name.  First PLAN Nanchang was a recommissioned 993-ton IJN gunboat Uji.  The KMT took procession of her in Sept 13th, 1945 after the end of WWII.  Then, her entire crew defected to the Communist cause 6 days later on Sept 19th. 




The second ship that bared the name of Nanchang was DDG 163, Luda class.  She was decommissioned in Sept 8th, 2016 after 34 years of service.


In some ways,  the story of Nanchang mirrors that of the PLAN; from ragtag to not-so-great then ending up world class.


Thursday, April 25, 2019


DDG 101





Friday, May 24, 2019

Photos of the day: Type 001A CV17 Shandong moving out of Dalian

Heading out to a new sea trial? She has conducted sea trials since the first one on May 13, 2018.





PLA commissions its ZBL08 Wheeled 8x8 35mm Anti-Air Point Defense System



 Expert variant

China decommissions five ships of PLA HK Garrison




HONGKONG, May 24 (ChinaMil) -- According to the Official Weibo account of PLA Hong Kong Garrison, the officers and sailors assigned to a Navy Ship Group under the PLA Hong Kong Garrison neatly lined up on the eastern wharf to attend a ceremony on May 23. It is the decommissioning ceremony for five ships, including No. 7593, No. 7594 and No. 7595 Landing Ships, as well as Nanjiao 85 and Nanjiao 86 Transporting Ships, which were among the first batch of ships deployed in Hong Kong.

Since their service, the five ships have witnessed the efforts and hard work of all the officers and soldiers stationed in Hong Kong, and recorded all the glory and honours in the past two decades, as the most loyal battle companions.

Records show that the three decommissioned landing ships are Type 074, the medium class landing ships designed by the PLA in the 1990s to replace small landing craft with low speed and poor wind and tide resistance. With the standard displacement of 486 tons and full load displacement of 656 tons, Type 074 has a shallower draft, leading to a maximum speed of 18 knots and an excellent performance of beach flushing. The design of its bow door is convenient for the exit and entrance of tanks, artillery and vehicles, and conducive to increasing speed as well. On the deck, it is equipped with crane, which could be used to handle light cargos.

Welcome army unit LN11, aka 1st Amphibious Armored Combined-Arms Brigade, 74th Group Army, Southern Theater Command


 
I think readers of this blog should know by now that the PLA ground force has a sizeable Amphibious orbat.  Unlike their "Smurfs" counterparts under the navy command, those Amphibious Brigades has only a single primary mission.  Cough, cough

1st Amphibious Armored Combined-Arms Brigade was part of the 124th Amphibious Mechanized Infantry Division before the recent reorg. 


Infantrymen assigned to an armored infantry detachment of a brigade of the PLA 74th Group Army dismount from an armored infantry fighting vehicle to engage mock enemy during a tactical training in wild field on May 22, 2019. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Li Bin)






Old photos of the 124th Amphibious Mechanized Infantry Division, 42Group Army, Guangzhou MR of the 1960 to 1980s









Saturday, August 22, 2015

Storming the beach -- 124th Amphibious Mechanized Infantry Division

After the much-publicized unveiling of Chinese Zubr offloading a Type96 MBT in July,  the 42nd Group Army, Guangzhou MR conducted another small scale (by Chinese standards) drill two days ago to hone their skills.





 A landing craft air cushion approaches an amphibious dock landing ship during a joint landing training exercise on August 20, 2015. The landing craft air cushion and the amphibious dock landing ship are assigned to a landing ship flotilla under the South China Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy.




Thursday, May 23, 2019

PLA orbat update: 17th Heavy Armor Combined-Arms Brigade, 76th Group Army, Western Theater Command

The 17th Heavy Armor Combined-Arms Brigade, formally the 13th Group Army Armor Brigade, Chengdu MR is in the process of receiving ZBD04A and ZTZ99, bringing it up to PLA's current heavy "standards".  This unit was sporting Type 59 MBT and Type86 BMP-1 clone as late as 2016.

Again, full credit goes to Andrew KC for this update.

 News from 2016

Monday, May 20, 2019

Communist propaganda of the day: makeup vs no makeup







98th Aviation Brigade, PLAAF's J-16 unit, Western Theater Command Air Force HQ

A J-16 fighter jet attached to an aviation brigade of the air force under the PLA Western Theater Command takes off for a recent round-the-clock flight training exercise. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Ma Yongping)




Friday, May 17, 2019

Photos of the day: Adhafer-class corvette of Algerian Navy

If the three Adhafer sisters look family because they are built in Shanghai by CSSC with all the famous Chinese trimmings.   They a heavily modified Jiangwei frigates




Thursday, May 16, 2019

Photos of the day: Sino-Thai Blue Commando-2019 naval drill



Amphibious armored vehicles attached to the Chinese PLA Navy storm the beach head during a beach-landing exercise of the Chinese-Thai joint naval drill, code-named Blue Commando-2019, in waters of the Red Bay of south China’s Guangdong Province on May 8, 2019. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Sun Hongtao)


China, Thailand conclude joint naval training

Source
    Xinhuanet
Editor
    Li Jiayao

Time
    2019-05-09 00:36:56



ZHANJIANG, Guangdong, May 8 (Xinhua) -- China and Thailand's naval forces on Wednesday concluded a week-long joint training exercise at a military port in Zhanjiang, south China's Guangdong Province.

Seven naval ships, five observers and more than 1,000 soldiers from both sides participated in the program which included training at the port area and maritime training.

The program was a new starting point for the naval forces of both sides to jointly tackle security threats and safeguard regional peace and stability, said Huang Fengzhi, commander of Chinese participating forces.

The joint training aims to improve friendly and pragmatic cooperation between the two naval forces and enhance their capability to cope with maritime security threats, according to a statement released when the program was launched.