U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission: Personnel of the People's Liberation Army

 U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission

New Contracted Research Report

Personnel of the People's Liberation Army


Today, the U.S.-China Commission released a new report entitled “Personnel of the People’s Liberation Army,” prepared for the Commission by BluePath Labs.


This report examines the people behind the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the force’s ongoing efforts to address the Chinese leadership’s longstanding concerns about the competence of its personnel. Topics surveyed include the challenges the PLA faces in improving personnel quality; the force’s recruitment and retention efforts; the expertise, educational, and socioeconomic backgrounds of PLA personnel; the force’s use of both conscription and voluntary recruitment; morale; combat readiness; and the role of politics in the PLA.

 
Key Findings:


    Xi Jinping has had continued doubts about personnel competence and loyalty since becoming the Chairman of the Central Military Commission in 2012, and thus has focused on both force modernization and Party loyalty. Despite this emphasis, many commanders are still judged as incapable of properly assessing situations, making operational decisions, deploying forces, or leading forces in a modern, joint, informationized war.
    The PLA remains concerned about improving political officers’ operational knowledge, seeking to make political officers an asset rather than a liability in the command tent. Political officers and Party Committees within the PLA are emphasized as the key conduit for ensuring Party control and often play a key role in unit affairs, including in personnel issues and day-to-day training and operations. They often struggle to play a productive role in the latter, however.
    The PLA has emphasized recruitment of college-educated and more technically proficient personnel at all levels since 2009. It has succeeded in recruiting more educated personnel, though it continues to face serious challenges with retention and proper utilization of talent.
    The PLA has also worked to improve the professionalism of its non-commissioned officer (NCO) corps through a range of new initiatives, with the goal of increasing NCO responsibilities and allowing NCOs to take over billets previously held by junior officers.
    Significant changes have been made to improve training and standardize bases and academic institutions, while basic training times have nearly doubled. Most significantly, in 2020 the PLA shifted from a single conscription cycle per year to two cycles per year, with the aim of eliminating uneven levels of unit combat-readiness at certain times of the year.
    While progress has been uneven, the sum of these initiatives is likely to produce a PLA that is more educated, professionalized, and technically proficient in the coming years.


The report’s authors also provide recommendations for Congress. Read the full report here.


The report was authored by Kenneth W. Allen, Thomas Corbett, Taylor A. Lee, and Ma Xiu.


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The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission was created by Congress to report on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. For more information, visit www.USCC.gov or follow the Commission on Twitter at @USCC_GOV.


DISCLAIMER: This contracted report was prepared by BluePath Labs at the request of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission to support its deliberations. Posting of the report to the Commission’s website is intended to promote greater public understanding of the issues addressed by the Commission in its ongoing assessment of U.S.-China economic relations and their implications for U.S. security, as mandated by Public Law 110-161 and Public Law 113-291. However, the public release of this document does not necessarily imply an endorsement by the Commission or any individual Commissioner of the views of conclusions expressed in this contracted research report.

Thank you,


Jameson Cunningham

Congressional Affairs and Communications Director

U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission

202-624-1496


Link to the report:  https://www.uscc.gov/research/personnel-peoples-liberation-army

Type 81 SR, a SVD-ish rifle shows up in the Canadian Market

 

They should have used the SVD looking furniture instead of PSL furniture. Also, should have based on the long action version of the Type 81 so it could chamber it in 7.62x51 NATO or 7.62x54R.

Introducing the all-new Type 81 SR, exclusively from Tactical Imports. Developed to enhance the capability of the Type 81 platform, the SR features a number of changes over the legacy Type 81 including:

• Heavy profile barrel for increased accuracy
• Thumbhole Stock with reversible cheekrest for LH shooters
• Flat bottom extended handguard for more stability when shooting from rested surfaces
• 5 Round waffle-pattern magazine for bench and prone shooting capability
• Threaded muzzle for attachment of optional accessories
• Adjustable Trigger stop screw for added precision
• Lightened Trigger pull weight for added precision

Evolution from FC31 to J35

 

China is offering their new 6x6 IFV to the Argentinean Army

Rumor that the Argentinean Army is looking for an new Infantry Fighting Vehicle.

The new Chinese VN22 6x6 wheel IFV shown here features a remote turret with pop-up dual ATGMs, recon drone, and active protection system of some kind. Plus it seats 8x dismounts and protected by modular armor.

 It seems to also has 360 degree cameras and mine protection seats. This new 6x6 chassis is quit a bit taller than the Type 09 8x8 chassis in service with the PLA. The auto canon seems to be the 25mm chain gun instead of the new 40mm telescopic ammo canon shown in the new Chinese prototype IFV design.

Ken Allen's PLAAF Bomber Training Report is now released by the By the China Aerospace Studies Institute

via link (here) Bomber Unit Training This paper provides information about bomber pilot training with a focus on daily training and over-water training in the Western Pacific and South China Sea, as well as participation in the Golden Dart competition in China and the Aviadarts component of the International Army Games (IAG / ( 国 际 军 事 比 赛 ), which are co -organized by China, Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Iran. 

 

 It is a follow up to the PLAAF Bomber Organization report that came out on 2 May : https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/CASI/documents/Research/CASI%20Articles/2022-05-02%20PLAAF%20Bomber%20Organization.pdf

Aircraft carrier Liaoning and escort Type 55 large destroyer refueling at sea

 

Chinese Navy's H-6N flying with hypersonic glide missile

 

Y20 landing and take off from Serbia

 

China's Last Kalashnikov: The QBZ-56C

 

China's Last Kalashnikov: The QBZ-56C

This 7.62x39mm shorty is the end of China's Kalashnikov line. Read Tim Yan's full review of this interesting AK developed for Naval service here!

Link to the Firearms News article

Links to two great articles by Kenneth Allen on "PLA’s Enlisted Force"

 

The Evolution of the PLA’s Enlisted Force: Conscription and Recruitment (Part One)

Publication: China Brief Volume: 22 Issue: 1

 https://jamestown.org/program/the-evolution-of-the-plas-enlisted-force-conscription-and-recruitment-part-one/

 

The Evolution of the PLA’s Enlisted Force: Training (Part Two)

Publication: China Brief Volume: 22 Issue: 3

https://jamestown.org/program/the-evolution-of-the-plas-enlisted-force-training-part-two/

 

 

Introduction

This article is the first in a two-part series on the evolution of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) enlisted force. Part one provides background and examines key issues in the PLA’s conscription and recruitment of enlisted personnel. Part two overviews the role of the enlisted force in the annual training cycle. The PLA’s yearly training cycle has always revolved around the annual conscription cycle, but each service and subordinate branch has been affected differently based on the size of the conscript force within the service/branch. Four major reforms have directly affected the conscript force: 1) the number and percentage of conscripts within the overall enlisted force; 2) the transition from an illiterate conscript force to a more educated force; 3) the creation of a two-year conscript force and a 28-year noncommissioned officer (NCO) corps; and 4) the change from a one to two-cycle annual conscription process.

This article addresses the following issues: key terms, guidance documents, force size and composition, gender, health issues, management and quotas, the annual conscription cycle, and compensation. Although the information applies to all PLA services, forces, and branches, the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) is used for specific examples.

 

 

 

New Chinese Small Submarine is cruising down the river

 

QBZ bullpups of the Djibouti base detachment

 

QBZ bullpups of the Djibouti base detachment. 2nd Gen Defender top rails, Sig 1-4x, EOTech, Aimpoint?, Trijicon MRO, Vortex 1-6x. Cheek riser for optic useage. They got the budget for oversea deployment.