Unit Update: PLAN 6th Marine Brigade Dec 24th

Finally a confirmation that the PLAN 6th Marine Brigade is now equipped with Type15/ZTQ-15 light tank.  Previously, the 6th was equipped with ZTD05 assault gun for 105mm direct fire support.

 

 6355 and 6359 = 6th Marine Brigade, 3rd Battalion, 

 Older photo of ZTD05 from the 2nd battalion, 6th Marine Brigade  (note the numbers 6247, 6244) 

 

Friday, October 17, 2025

Unit Update: PLAN 6th Marine Brigade

The following PR photos showcase an artillery unit from the 6th Marine Brigade (6*06) undergoing training at the PLA Army’s Zhurihe Combined Arms Training Base, Asia’s largest such base (link) The following images confirm that the PLA Marines have access to organic, large-caliber fire support in the form of the 155mm PCL-181 howitzer.

The PCL-181 is a wheeled artillery system, and its selection over heavier tracked alternatives like the PLZ-05 likely reflects a strategic preference for enhanced mobility and reduced logistical burden for the PLAN Marine. Its lighter weight and road-friendly design make it well-suited for rapid deployment and maneuverability, those are key advantages for the 6th Marine Brigade.

 

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.

Saturday, December 23, 2017

PLAN Marine Orbat Update, Dec 23rd 2017

If the great "Chinese Internet" is to be believed, a total of 5 new PLAN Marine combat brigades will be commissioned to support PLA's “New Historic Missions”.  They are to supplement the existing 1st and 2nd Marine Brigades.   The new outfits are:  3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and Marine SpOps Brigade.

The Fourth PLAN Marine Brigade

Monday, March 06, 2017

"We will have a bigger Navy and Marine Corps" Admiral Liu Xiaojiang

Speaking at the current National People’s Congress session on Sunday,  Admiral Liu Xiaojiang. the former Political Commissar of the PLAN stressed that the PLAN will play an increasingly important role in national defense - for the readers of this blog - with additional Army transfers to the PLAN Marine's Order of battle (中国海军上将证实：海军人员编制舰艇规模将扩大)  .

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Long expected, the third PLAN Marine Brigade is now here.

The commission of the third PLAN Marine Brigade should come as no surprise since "with great power comes great Marines".  The current two-Marine Brigade ORBAT simply does not have the manpower to fulfill all those new "historical missions" the PLA high command has planned for them.  The question is really about which PLA ground unit will be transferred to the navy and how soon.

The first PLAN Marine Brigade commissioned on May 1980.  164th Motorized Infantry Division, 41st Army Group Army transferred to the Chinese Marine Corps as the 164th Marine Brigade on July 1998.  This new Marine Brigade is another army transfer, this time from the 77th "Yimeng/沂蒙" Motorized Infantry Brigade, 26th Group Army, Jinan MR/ Northern Theater Command.

The 77th is a proud PLA outfit, commissioned by the CMC on December 1945 and participated in some of the major campaigns during the Chinese Civil War (The Battle of Luannan, the Battle of Laiwu, the Battle of Menglianggu, the Battle of Kaifeng, the Battle of Huaihai, the Battle of the Yangtze River, and the Battle of Shanghai).  It also took part in the Second, Fourth, and Fifth campaigns of the "War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea".

Yimeng Brigade's unit sleeve insignia can be seen from the picture above  

Saturday, January 14, 2017

ZTL09 8x8 Wheeled Light Tank to the PLAN Marine??

ZTL09 8x8 Wheeled Light Tanks sporting the now-famous "Blue Smurf" camo were spotted in Sanya City, near the HQ of the PLAN Marine.  Rumor has it that they are now getting those wheeled new toys to increase their mobility for MOOTW and non-amphibious operations.  Time will tell.

Boring logistics: Runway repair at night

Recent media coverage has highlighted the PLAAF’s efforts to protect its aircraft along the East China Sea. Hardened shelters can certainly help shield warplanes from cluster munitions and drone strikes, but they don’t solve a fundamental vulnerability: if the runway is knocked out, those aircraft are effectively grounded in a conflict. The PLAAF is well aware of this reality, which is why it has been investing heavily in training its maintenance crews in rapid runway repair and explosive ordnance disposal. Strengthening these capabilities is just as critical as protecting the aircraft themselves.

 

 

PLA Infantry Gear Of The Day: The QZS183 quick-draw holster

The QZS183 quick-draw holster could host all PLA service handguns from  Type54, Type92 to QSZ193

 

Random Muse Of The Day: The new Y-15 military transport aircraft program

 
The pace of the Y‑20 program—its rapid development cycle and the steady stream of new aircraft entering service—makes it clear that the PLA places far greater priority on this four‑engine “fat bird” than on the Y‑9, despite the Y‑20’s higher cost and heavier maintenance burden. The contrast is hard to miss: China’s strategic jet engined‑transport fleet is expanding quickly, while the tactical turboprop fleet grows at a far more measured rate. The activity around the PLAAF’s 13th and 4th Transport Aviation Divisions, both home to Y‑20 units, reinforces this trend.

This emphasis fits neatly with the PLAAF’s evolving strategic air‑transport doctrine. We’ve seen it demonstrated in MOOTW deployments and in the rapid reinforcement of remote regions such as Tibet. From my perspective, China’s extensive high‑speed rail and modern highway networks reduce the urgency of maintaining a large tactical airlift force. That may help explain why meaningful Y‑9 airdrop activity is rarely observed outside of occasional publicity clips, while Y‑20s are constantly on the move across China and even making appearances in friendly countries. Several posts here at this blog have already documented some of those Y‑20 trips.

Which brings us to the Y‑15 program. I’d argue that the Y‑9’s real success has been less about its performance as a traditional tactical transport and more about its evolution into a versatile platform for specialized “high‑noon” missions across multiple services. The Y‑15 appears to be following that same pattern for the PLAAF’s turboprop transport line. Its value may not lie in raw transport endurance but in its potential as a next‑generation specialized platform. something hinted at by the adding of a mid‑air refueling probe, a capability the older Y‑9 lacks.

Friday, October 11, 2024

PLAAF Unit Of The Day: 37th Regiment, 13th Transport Aviation Division, Central Theater Command Air Force HQ

 Home to 28 Y-20 Heavy Transport of the PLAAF as of Oct 11th. 

https://china-defense.blogspot.com/2020/04/plaafs-airlft-to-wuhan.html

Saturday, April 04, 2020

PLAAF's airlift to Wuhan

During the height of the COVID-19 fight early Feb 20210, the Chinese Military dispatched more then 4,000 medical personnel to Wuhan (link)

The 2,600 military medical personnel are drawn from the PLA Army, Navy, Air Force, Rocket Force, Strategic Support Force, Joint Logistic Support Force and Armed Police Force. According to the above two hospitals’ treatment capacity and construction progress, the military medical personnel will be deployed in batches. The first group of 1,400 personnel has arrived in Wuhan on February 13 and scheduled to carry out medical treatment as soon as possible.

Most of them were airlifted via a fleet of 11 transports "Y-20 (4th Division 12th Regiment), IL-76 (13th Division) and Y-9 (4th Division 10th Regiment) (link)"



At the same time, PLA's Joint Logistic Support Force also procured 10,000 protective suits for military medical personnel each day, and over two million face masks have been imported from around the world. (link)

 3xY-20,  5xIL-76 and 3xY-9

Friday, August 05, 2016

Photos of the day: 15th Airborne corps airdrops in Tibet with Y-9

Monday, August 01, 2016

Now checking in with the Y-9 transport aircraft program

The PLA Daily just released a series of photos confirming that Y-9's "3-ZBD-03 airborne armored infantry fighting vehicle" capacity.  Outside of dropping ZBD-03s, it can also carry 25 tons of cargo or 132 paratroops.  While the Y-20 program is getting all the attention, the Y-9 is another tool in China's war chest that can call upon to rapidly reinforce China's remote regions

A Y-9 large transport aircraft airdrops three ZBD-03 airborne armored infantry fighting vehicles during airborne combat training. An airborne regiment with the PLA Air Force conducted airborne combat training at the Gobi Desert in the northwest China in late July, 2016, including such subjects as heavy equipment airdrop, logistical support, parachute skills, fire strike and so forth. (81.cn/ Chen Lichun)

Sunday, October 07, 2012

Photos of the day: Clear images of Y-9 Transporter in "China Airforce" color

 Judging from the recently photos, there is no doubt that the Y-9 project has entered serial production.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Y-9 project, rebooted. 

http://china-defense.blogspot.com/2010/09/y-9-project-rebooted.html

According to China Aviation News (here) the long delayed first Y-9 prototype is under construction. It is scheduled to perform its maiden flight by 2011.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Y-9 Tactical Transport Aircraft program back on track?

          http://china-defense.blogspot.com/2009/07/y-9-tactical-transport-aircraft-program.html
According to Shanfei’s press release posted on its website (http://www.shanfei.com/xwzx/new/20090713,1.html) the Y-9 dual-purpose Tactical Transport Aircraft project has been restarted. Shanfei upper management acknowledged elements that caused the delay of this important project. They included: unbalanced department workload, lack of research capability, project planning, funding, in addition to a shortage of parts, limited parts assembly lines and final assembly, and limited test flight capabilities. There were also technology limitations, frequent accidents due to low safety standards, poor quality control, undefined procedures and poor production work flows that led to a serious delay of the project.
Here are the words in Shanfei’s press release and judging from the language used AVIC, Shanfei’s parent company, must be getting hard on them.

大 运研制按计划要求正常推进。但 由于任务繁重、研发能力和资源不足，对现场生产组织提出挑战，多项工作进度不同程度滞后；零件生产、部装、总装、试飞等能力未填平补齐，受现场技术质量问 题处理影响，生产不畅，任务不均衡，严重影响产品交付效率；因违反程序、操作规程等原因，多次发生质量、安全事故，安全生产形势严峻

The Y-9 Tactical Transport Aircraft, or YunShuji-9 project, was reported back in 2001 as an enlarged version of the PLA’s workhorse Y-8 transport: a Chinese version of the C-130 Hercules with an airdrop payload capability of 20,000kg or 100 paratroopers. The older Y-8 had a max airdrop payload of 13,200kg. The Y-9 has a built-in RoRo ramp for quick offloads/airdrops. It will also have a max range of 3000km, allowing it to reach most of China from Wuhan—the central city in China and also home to the 15th airborne army. Strategically, this allows the Chinese military a quick reaction to any trouble spot and is one of the reasons why the Y-9 project is so important. Also, it lessens the reliance on Russia for transport aircraft, even though it is not in the same class as the Russian Il-76’s payload of 50,000 to 88,000kg. But the Y-9 is a homegrown and inexpensive solution that is capable of dropping armor such as ZBD03/ZLC2000 Airborne Infantry Fighting Vehicle. The PLA’s order for 36 Il-76s placed in 2005 is still under negotiation.
Now that the project is seriously behind schedule, it will not be surprising to see management changes take place at Shanfei.

Official photo from Shanfei



Y-9 display model and artist impression:

  

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Zhuhai Surprise: New SAC Medium Air Transporter Y-30

A love child between Y-9 and Y-20?  perhaps.

This new Y-30 by SAC with a payload of 30Ton, could be PLAAF's next generation of tactical transport, a less expensive alternative to the Y20.

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