A noticeable geopolitical trend of recent decades has been the rapid rise of China and its gradual transformation from a regional leader into a superpower that no longer hides its global ambitions. Today, China has the second economy in the world, and it continues to grow rapidly, more than a third of world GDP growth is provided by China.

However, a strong economy alone is not enough to realize global ambitions. The power of a state and the respect of its neighbors - as at all times - is determined by the ability of its armed forces to defend national interests.

It should be noted that estimates of Chinese military power vary greatly. From panic materials about the "yellow" threat that can capture the whole world, to an openly dismissive attitude towards the developments of the Chinese military-industrial complex. But still, most experts recognize the successes achieved by the Chinese military leadership in recent years. So, what is the modern army of China? Should she be afraid?

The country's armed forces are officially called the PLA - the People's Liberation Army of China, they were founded on August 1, 1927 during the civil war, but this name was received a little later, after the end of World War II. Today, the PLA is considered one of the strongest armies on the planet, experts put it in second or third place in the ranking of the armed forces of the countries of the world.

In accordance with the country's constitution, the PRC army is not subordinate to the government or the leadership of the Communist Party, but to a special body - the Central Military Council. The post of Chairman of the Central Military Commission is considered one of the key in the hierarchy of power, currently (since 2013) it has been occupied by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Xi Jinping. The first chairman of the Central Military Council was Deng Xiaoping, one of the architects of the Chinese economic miracle.

As of 2013, the number of the PLA was 2 million 250 thousand people (according to other sources - 2.6 million). In 2016, another reduction of the Chinese armed forces by 300 thousand people was announced. After the implementation of these plans, approximately 2 million people will remain in the Chinese army.

The Chinese army is conscription, men are recruited into the armed forces at the age of 18 and remain in the reserve until the age of 50.

China continues to increase defense spending: if at the beginning of the 2000s the country spent $17 billion on the army and the military-industrial complex, in 2013 this figure reached $188 billion (2% of GDP). In terms of military spending, China confidently ranks second, significantly ahead of Russia (with its $87.8 billion in 2013), but more than three times behind the United States ($640 billion).

The impressive success of the Chinese defense industry should also be noted. You can forget the times when the word "Chinese" was synonymous with something cheap, low quality and counterfeit. Today, China produces almost the entire range of weapons and ammunition. If earlier China mainly copied Soviet and Russian weapons, today the Chinese defense industry is trying to imitate the most technologically advanced products from the United States, Europe and Israel.

China still lags behind Russia in some areas: aircraft and rocket engines, submarines, cruise missiles - but this gap is rapidly closing. Moreover, the PRC is gradually turning into a powerful player in the global arms market, confidently occupying the niche of inexpensive and high-quality weapons.

History of the PLA

The history of the Chinese armed forces has more than four thousand years. However, the modern army of the PRC is the heir to the pro-communist armed groups that appeared during the civil war that took place in the country in the 20-30s of the last century. On August 1, 1927, an uprising began in the city of Nanchang, during which the so-called Red Army was founded under the leadership of the future leader of China, Mao Zedong.

The Red Army of China fought against the armed forces of the Kuomintang, then fought against the Japanese interventionists. It received the PLA name only after the end of World War II.

After the defeat of the Kwantung Army, the USSR handed over all Japanese weapons to the Chinese comrades. Chinese volunteers armed with Soviet weapons actively participated in the Korean War. The Soviet Union actively helped China to build a new army, and very quickly, numerous and quite combat-ready armed forces were created on the basis of semi-partisan formations.

After Stalin's death, relations between the PRC and the USSR began to deteriorate rapidly, and in 1969 there was a border conflict on Damansky Island, which almost escalated into a full-scale war.

Since the 1950s, the PLA has experienced several significant reductions, the most significant of which was carried out in the early 80s. Until that time, the Chinese army was mainly land, it was "sharpened" for a possible conflict with the USSR. As the likelihood of war in the north declined, the Chinese leadership began to pay more attention to the south: Taiwan, the disputed territories in the South China Sea.

In the 90s of the last century, the PRC leadership launched a program to modernize the national armed forces, which led to such an impressive growth in the future. More attention was paid to the development of the navy, missile forces and air force.

A few years ago, the beginning of a new reform of the PLA was officially announced. The transformation is already underway. The principle of formation of the armed forces of the armed forces has changed, new types of troops have been created. The goal of large-scale transformations is to achieve a new level of controllability of the PLA by 2020, optimize the structure of the army and create a military capable of winning in the era of information technology.

Structure of the PLA

The system of power of modern China provides for complete control over the national armed forces by the ruling Communist Party of the country. Each level of PLA organization has its own party control structures. At the same time, it should be noted that, in comparison with the middle of the last century, the influence of the party leadership and ideology on the armed forces has become less.

The main governing body of the PLA is the Central Military Council, which consists of the chairman, his deputy and members of the council, military personnel. There is also a Ministry of Defense in China, but its functions are reduced to a minimum: to the organization of international military cooperation and peacekeeping missions.

The reform, launched in 2016, primarily affected the management system of the PLA. Instead of four headquarters - the General Staff, the main logistics department, the main political department and the weapons department - fifteen compact departments were created, each of which deals with a separate direction and is subordinate to the Central Military Council.

The reform also affected the structure of the Chinese armed forces. As part of the PLA, a new type of troops appeared - the Strategic Support Forces, the country's military districts were reformatted. Previously, the territory of China was divided into seven military regions, on February 1, 2016 they were replaced by five military command zones:

• Northern zone of military command. Its headquarters is in Shenyang City. The command structure includes four army groups. Its main task is to counter the military threat from North Korea, Mongolia, northern Japan and Russia.
• Western Military Command Zone (headquarters in Chengdu). Controls most of the country's territory, but has no access to the sea. The task of the command is to ensure the security of Tibet, Xinjiang and other regions. The most important for China is the Indian direction, for which the Western Command is also responsible. It consists of three army groups and about ten separate divisions.
• Southern Military Command Zone (Headquarters in Guangzhou). Controls the territory near the Vietnamese, Lao and Myanmar borders, it consists of three army groups.
• Eastern Military Command Zone (headquartered in Nanjing). One of the most important areas for China, given the long-standing problem with Taiwan. The Chinese do not rule out the possibility of solving it by military means. The command structure includes three army groups.
• Central Military Command Zone (Headquarters in Beijing). This command protects the capital of the country - Beijing, it includes five army groups at once, so the Central Command can be called strategic for the armed forces of the PRC.

Currently, the PLA includes five branches of service:

• Ground troops;
• Navy;
• Air Force;
• Strategic Rocket Forces;
• Strategic support troops.

Land Forces of the People's Republic of China

China has the largest land army in the world. Experts estimate its number at 1.6 million people. It should be noted that the current reform of the PLA provides for a significant reduction in the Ground Forces. Currently, the Chinese army is continuing its transition from a divisional to a more flexible brigade structure.

The reserves of the Ground Forces are estimated at about 500 thousand people. At least 40% of the Chinese army is mechanized and armored.

Currently, the PLA is armed with more than eight thousand tanks, among which there are both obsolete (various modifications of the tank Type 59, Type 79 and Type 88) and new ones: Type 96 (various modifications), Type-98A, Type-99, Type-99A. The ground forces of the PLA also have 1490 infantry fighting vehicles and 3298 armored personnel carriers. More than 6 thousand towed guns, 1710 self-propelled howitzers, almost 1800 MLRS and more than 1.5 thousand anti-aircraft guns are in operation.

One of the main problems of the Chinese army (including the Ground Forces) is the amount of obsolete equipment and weapons that were developed on the basis of Soviet models at the end of the last century. However, this issue is gradually being resolved, and the troops are being saturated with modern types of weapons.

Air Force

The PRC Air Force is in third place in the world in terms of numbers (390 thousand people (according to other sources - 360 thousand), second only to the United States and Russia. The Air Force is divided into 24 air divisions. The PLA Air Force is armed with about 4 thousand combat aircraft of various types , models and missions, as well as more than a hundred combat helicopters.The Chinese Air Force also includes air defense units, which are armed with about 700 missile launchers and 450 radars of various types.

The main problem of the Chinese Air Force is the operation of a large number of obsolete vehicles (analogues of the Soviet MiG-21, MiG-19, Tu-16 and Il-28).

Serious modernization of the PRC Air Force began at the end of the last century. China has purchased several dozen of the latest Su-27 and Su-30 aircraft from Russia. Then the licensed production of these machines began in the PRC, and then the unlicensed one.

Since about the middle of the last decade, China has been developing its own fifth-generation fighters: the J-31 and J-20. The J-20 fighter was shown to the public last fall. The plans of the Chinese leadership are not only to equip their own Air Force with these machines, but also to actively export them.

Chinese Navy

Until the early 1990s, relatively little attention was paid to the development of naval forces in China. This type of troops was considered auxiliary, but since then the situation has changed dramatically. The leadership of the PRC has understood the importance of the Navy and spares no resources for its modernization.

At present, the strength of the Chinese Navy is 255 thousand people (according to other sources - 290 thousand). The Navy is divided into three fleets: the South, North and East Seas, respectively. The fleets are armed with surface ships, submarines, naval aviation, marine infantry units and coastal defense troops.

In 2013, the Chief of the General Staff of the PLA said that the main threats to modern China come from the sea, so the development of the Navy is a priority.

Rocket troops

Before the start of the reform, the Chinese Strategic Missile Forces were called the Second Artillery Corps, and only in 2016 did they receive a new status. Their number is approximately 100 thousand people.

Many questions are raised by the number of nuclear warheads that China currently possesses. Experts estimate their number from 100 to 650 pieces, but there is another opinion that over several decades, the PRC could produce several thousand nuclear warheads.

The Americans believe that by 2020 China will be able to put on combat duty up to 200 ICBMs (both silo-based and mobile-based) equipped with next-generation warheads. Of particular note are the latest Chinese missile systems Dongfyn-31NA (range 11,000 km) and Dongfyn-41 (14,000 km).

Strategic Support Troops

This is the youngest branch of the Chinese army, it appeared on December 31, 2016. There is very little information about the goals and objectives of the Strategic Support Forces. It was announced that they will be engaged in intelligence, information warfare, attacks in cyberspace, and electronic countermeasures.

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The Chinese armed forces are the largest in the world. The size of the Chinese army as a general structure is 2,480,000 people. In terms of the totality of combat capabilities, they are still in third place after the United States and Russia. The structure includes: Air Force, Naval Forces, Ground Forces, Strategic Missile Forces and People's Militia. The subdivisions are equipped with both modern and very outdated equipment. Due to the increased level of secrecy, quantitative estimates of Chinese military equipment are often only approximate.

In 2010, a new military reform was launched to increase the size and quality of China's army. For 2019, there was a sharp jump in the combat capability of the PRC Armed Forces. According to the current Chinese military doctrine, measures are being taken to implement the so-called "principle of restricting access." It is designed to create restricted areas on the territory of China and nearby water areas, where even the US Armed Forces will not be able to conduct combat operations. Comprehensive measures are being implemented to create no-fly zones and counteract aircraft carrier strike groups. Much attention is paid to the development of nuclear forces, as well as to building up the space constellation and ensuring security in cyberspace.

Air Force

The number of Air Force personnel in the Chinese army in 2019 is 330 thousand people. The PRC Air Force has a mixed fleet of modern and obsolete aircraft, an extensive network of airfields, including extremely fortified underground ones, equipped in mountain ranges. They use both Russian and domestically produced cars, often resorting to illegal copying of Russian technology. The Air Force also includes anti-aircraft missile troops.

Aviation is divided into the following main categories:

Strategic aviation

Strategic aviation is one of the components of the Chinese nuclear triad and is represented by 130 Xian H-6 long-range missile-carrying bombers, in fact, modified copies of the outdated Soviet Tu-16. Depending on the modification, the H-6 can carry from 2 to 6 cruise missiles with nuclear warheads. Presumably, the Air Force has deployed from 120 to 150 strategic and tactical nuclear warheads, which is about a quarter of China's total nuclear potential. Unlike American and Russian strategic aircraft, Chinese bombers have a much shorter range and payload capacity, and are essentially not intercontinental.

tactical aviation

The structure includes: fighter-bombers - 24 Su-30MK2, 73 Su-30MKK, 43 Su-27SK, 32 Su-27UBK, 205 J-11 (clone Su-27), 323 J-10, 120 JH-7, 4 FC-1, 12 J-20 (5th generation), as well as obsolete fighter-bombers and attack aircraft - 192 J-8 (modification based on the MiG-21), 528 J7 (Mig-21 clone), 120 Q- 5 (attack aircraft based on the MiG-19), 32 Z-9 multi-purpose helicopters, 200 Z-10 and Z-19 attack helicopters, several dozen V-750 UAVs

The range of weapons is dominated by unguided weapons, although there is a fairly wide range of high-precision weapons, including guided bombs, anti-radar and anti-ship missiles, various air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles with active radar guidance. A great achievement of the Chinese defense industry is the launch of the fifth-generation J-20 multirole fighter jet.

AWACS aircraft

Includes: 4 KJ-200, 2 KJ-500, 4 KJ-2000, 1 KJ 3000.

Chinese AWACS are built on a modern element base and generally meet the standards for machines of this class, although there are some doubts about the quality of the headlights and software.

Military transport and auxiliary aviation

The structure includes: 2 Xian Y-20, 16 Il-76 MD \ TD, 1 Il-78, 4 Y-9, 61 Y-8 (An-12), 2 Boeing 737, as well as several dozen more middle class transporters and about 300 light An-2s, about 40 transport helicopters of Russian, domestic and French production.

At the moment, the Chinese Air Force has a small number of heavy transport aircraft, so the possibility of transferring military equipment is very limited.

Anti-aircraft missile troops

About 120 HQ-2, HQ-6, HQ-7, HQ-9, HQ-12, S-300 PMU air defense systems are in service. As an auxiliary force, the Chinese army has a large number of anti-aircraft artillery systems (more than 1100).

China's air defense system is an impressive force, air defense systems are mainly located in the eastern coastal and central regions. Measures are being taken to create a deeply echeloned air defense system and cover long-range complexes with the help of air defense systems and short-range air defense systems.

Naval Forces

The Chinese Navy today has a significant combat potential and is the most rapidly growing type of troops. The number of military personnel of the Navy in the Chinese army for 2019 is 290 thousand people. At the moment, the fleet is being completed entirely with the help of domestic shipbuilding companies, although copies purchased in Russia are still in service. Ships and submarines under construction are equipped with modern high-precision weapons of various classes. The breakthrough of the Chinese industry in the field of electronics makes it possible to introduce modern CICS in the fleet (only on destroyers pr 052D and 055), approaching in their functionality the capabilities of the American Aegis system, as well as modern radar and anti-submarine equipment.

The fleet is conditionally divided into the following categories:

Fleet of guided missile ships

The structure includes: type 4 Kunming-class destroyers, pr. 052D, 6 Lanzhou-class destroyers, pr. 051, 4 Sovremenny-class destroyers: project 956E and project 956EM, 2 Jiankai-class frigates, project 054/054A, 10 Jianwei-2-class frigates, project 053H3, 4 053H2G, 29 Jianghu-1 frigates, project 053, 28 corvettes, project 056 / 056А, 83 missile boats, project 022, 31 missile boats, project 037, 25 missile boats, project 024.

The large number of missile boats in the Navy makes it possible to effectively solve the tasks of the coast guard and counteract larger enemy ships in coastal waters. The extensive fleet of corvettes is mainly concentrated on anti-submarine missions. About a third of the total number of destroyers are modern. 4 destroyers pr 052 D (it is planned to build 8 more) are very innovative for the Chinese fleet and are comparable to the American Arleigh Burke-class destroyers (without missile defense capability). The construction of a series of even more advanced project 055 destroyers has begun, 16 are planned.

submarine fleet

The composition includes: 4 SSBN pr. km), 4 MPLATRK project 093 Shan, 1 nuclear submarine project 097 Kin, 4 nuclear submarine project 091 Han (obsolete),

15 diesel-electric submarines pr. 041 Yuan, 10 diesel-electric submarines pr. 636, 2 diesel-electric submarines pr.

The Chinese Navy has one of the most powerful diesel-electric submarine fleets in the world (largely thanks to modern Russian boats pr 636). Due to their low noise, they pose a serious threat to the ship formations of any enemy, therefore, special attention is paid to the development of diesel-electric submarines in China as part of the “denial of access” strategy. The nuclear submarine fleet is actively developing, both in the field of creating multi-purpose boats and SSBNs. A significant part of the Chinese nuclear deterrence forces is located on underwater platforms, being one of the components of the nuclear triad. In terms of low-noise nuclear submarines, there is still a noticeable lag behind the advanced models of the Russian and American fleets.

Amphibious fleet

The structure includes: 4 UDC type "Qinchenshan" pr. 071, 25 large landing craft type "Yukan" pr. , 10 MDK type "Yuhai", project 074

The Chinese Armed Forces are actively increasing the number of marines, landing ships of new projects are being laid. Helicopter carriers pr 071 are the largest ships in the Chinese fleet after the aircraft carrier "Liaoning". In general, the landing fleet of the PRC has significant potential and is capable of landing fairly large units of marines.

Naval aviation

The Navy is armed with the only Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning (a converted Soviet Varyag), has 24 Shenyang J-15 fighters, 4 Z-18J AWACS helicopters, 6 Z-18F anti-submarine helicopters, 2 Z search and rescue helicopters. -9C.

Airfield-based naval aviation includes: multipurpose fighters - 24 Su-30MK2, 110 J-11/15/16 (clones of various versions of the Su-27), 24 J10; 230 obsolete fighters, bombers and attack aircraft J7, J8, Q5 (converted versions of the MiG-19 and MiG-21), 36 H-6 long-range bombers, 19 Ka-28 helicopters, 27 Z-8 helicopters, 25 Z-9С helicopters, 9 Ka-31 helicopters.

Despite the fact that the PRC army maintains a large number of obsolete equipment on its balance sheet, the naval aviation has 134 modern multi-role fighters capable of performing anti-ship warfare and air defense missions in large areas of coastal waters. The disadvantage of Chinese naval aviation is the lack of modern anti-submarine aircraft.

Ground forces

The size of the Chinese land army for 2019 is about 870 thousand people. For a long time they were subordinate to the leadership of the central military council, and its chairman was one of the most influential figures in the PRC, but in 2015, a separate military command of the Ground Forces was created for the first time. At the moment, they represent the most powerful ground strike force in the region.

In service are: 3400 type-59 / 59-2 / 59D tanks (modifications of the Soviet T-54), 300 type-79 tanks, 500 type-88 tanks and modern: 2200 type-96 / 96A tanks, 40 type-98A tanks , 750 type-99/99A tanks, 750 type-03/type 62/type 63A light tanks, 200 type-09 wheeled tanks: 1850 type-92/92A/92B infantry fighting vehicles, 1650 type-63 armored personnel carriers, 1500 type-89 armored personnel carriers , 400 ZBL-09 armored personnel carriers, 100 WZ-523 armored personnel carriers, 1820 self-propelled guns of various modifications, 6340 towed guns and mortars, 1810 MLRS (BM-21, WS-2 / WS-2D, WS-3), 1570 anti-aircraft guns, about 3000 MANPADS, several thousand ATGMs HJ-8, HJ-73, AFT-20, Red Arrow.

Of particular note is the power of Chinese artillery and the large size of the Chinese ground forces in 2019. The unique WS-2 and WS-3 MLRS systems are in service, significantly surpassing Western and Russian counterparts in terms of firing range and accuracy, closely approaching in their capabilities to operational-tactical missile systems at a much lower cost. They provide an accuracy of hitting with a KVO of 30 m at a distance of up to 200 km. It was on the basis of these complexes that the Belarusian MLRS Polonaise was created as part of military cooperation.

The strengths also include the introduction of the 3rd generation ATGM in the ground forces (the principle of fire-and-forget) with optical and infrared guidance systems. At the moment, only 5 countries of the world (USA, Israel, China, Japan, South Korea) can mass-produce such systems, since they require high-tech production of uncooled thermal imaging matrices.

Nuclear Forces

In China, this type of force is officially called the 2nd Artillery Corps. The number of personnel is approximately 110 thousand people. What is the real number of this secret unit in the Chinese army remains a mystery. All data relating to this type of troops are approximate.

The total potential of China's nuclear forces is estimated at about 400-600 nuclear blocks of strategic and tactical classes. Of these, approximately 250 strategic-class charges are distributed among the components of the triad. For mobile ground platforms of ICBMs, an extensive network of underground tunnels has been created, both under Beijing and in various (mainly mountainous) regions of China, which significantly increases the secrecy and stability of nuclear forces from a probable first strike from the enemy.

The composition includes: ICBMs - 20 DF-5A, 28 DF-31A, 16 DF-31, 10 DF-4. MRBM - 2 DF-3A, 36 DF-21C, 80 DF-21. BRMD - 96 DF-15, 108 DF-11A, as well as 54 long-range KR DH-10.

For new ICBMs based on modifications of the DF-31, placement on mobile ground platforms is typical. It is supposed to have 3-4 nuclear units on one missile. In addition to the listed types of missiles, the newest ICBM DF-41 is beginning to enter service, where, probably for the first time in Chinese rocket science, a multiple warhead for 10 individual targeting units was used. This means that China has achieved technological parity in rocket science with the US and Russia.

Truly unique is the medium-range missile DF-21D with a maneuvering warhead and a guidance system that allows you to attack large moving targets (aircraft carrier class). It was created as part of the “deny access” strategy, implementing an extremely effective asymmetric response to the superiority of the United States in the field of naval weapons and AUGs in particular. In fact, it represents a completely new class of anti-ship missiles with a record low flight time and a firing range of 1750 km. According to Pentagon analysts, the appearance of such missiles could completely prevent the entry of the US fleet into the Taiwan Strait in the event of a conflict between China and Taiwan, and is also the first threat to the global dominance of the US Navy since the end of the Cold War.

People's Militia

The People's Militia of the People's Republic of China is a paramilitary unit of the internal troops (an analogue of the National Guard). They are engaged in maintaining order in China, fighting terrorism, protecting important facilities and carrying out border service. According to various estimates, the size of the Chinese "internal" army for 2019 is from 1 to 1.5 million people.

The People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) is the armed forces of the People's Republic of China, the largest army in the world (2,250,000 people in active service). Founded on August 1, 1927 as a result of the Nanchang Uprising as the communist "Red Army", under the leadership of Mao Zedong during the Chinese Civil War (1930s) organized large raids (the Long March of the Chinese Communists), after the proclamation of the PRC in 1949 - the regular army of this states.

Legislation provides for military service for men from the age of 18; volunteers are accepted until the age of 49. Due to the large population of the country and the sufficient number of volunteers, the call was never made. In wartime, theoretically, up to 300 million people can be mobilized.

The PLA does not report directly to the party or the government, but to two special Central Military Commissions - state and party. Usually these commissions are identical in composition, and the term TsVK is used in the singular. The post of chairman of the CEC is a key one for the entire state. In recent years, it usually belongs to the Chairman of the PRC, but in the 1980s, for example, the CEC was headed by Deng Xiaoping, who was actually the leader of the country (formally, he was never the Chairman of the PRC or the Premier of the State Council of the PRC, and the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party occupied earlier, even under Mao before the "cultural revolution").

The naval forces of the People's Republic of China number 250,000 and are organized into three fleets: the North Sea Fleet headquartered in Qingdao, the East Sea Fleet headquartered in Ningbo, and the South Sea Fleet headquartered in Zhanjiang. Each fleet includes surface ships, submarines, naval aviation, coastal defense units, and marines.

General information:
Minimum military recruitment age: 19 years old
Available military workforce: 5,883,828
Full military personnel: 1,965,000
on the front line: 290,000
reserve forces: 1,653,000
paramilitary: 22,000
Annual military expenditure: $10,500,000,000
Available purchasing power: $690,100,000,000
Reported gold reserves: $282,900,000,000
Total workforce: 10,780,000

Units
Aircraft: 916
Armored cars: 2,819
Artillery systems: 2,040
Missile defense systems: 1,499
Infantry support systems: 1,400
Naval units: 97
Merchant Sea Strength: 102
Presence of nuclear weapons: no

Territories suitable for hostilities
Serviceable airports: 41
Railways: 2,502 km
Serviceable highways: 37,299 km
Main ports and harbours: 3
Total territory of the country: 35,980 km²

Amphibian MP PLA

PLA Navy Marines

other information:
The Chinese army at the beginning of the XXI century

Almost seventy-four years ago, on August 1, 1927, Chinese revolutionaries, among whom was the famous Zhou Enlai, who later became the first Premier of the State Administrative Council of the PRC, raised an uprising in Nanchang (Jiangxi Province) against the "northern" government that existed at that time in China.

Zhou Enlai

More than 20,000 armed fighters under the leadership of the Communist Party of China expressed their disagreement with the existing regime in this way, thus initiating the armed struggle of the Chinese people against external and internal enemies. On July 11, 1933, the Provisional Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic decided to celebrate August 1 as the day of the formation of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army. Later, this day became known as the date of birth of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA).

This is one of the few public holidays that originated long before the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and today is one of the most revered and widely celebrated in the PRC and the Chinese people.

Readers of the "Asian Library" will learn about what the Chinese army is today, what it consists of, how it is characterized and what prospects for the further defense construction of our great neighboring state from this article, written based on materials from the Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian and foreign press.

According to the National Defense Law of the People's Republic of China adopted in March 1997, the PLA and the reserve troops, together with the people's armed police (PAP) and the people's militias, constitute the "triune system" of the Chinese armed forces.

People's Armed Militia

Today, the People's Liberation Army of China has been significantly reduced and has about 2.8 million people. It has all the components of a modern army, including the air force, navy, and other troops armed with not only conventional weapons, but also intercontinental missiles and modern nuclear weapons.

The strategic nuclear forces include land, air and sea components and have a total of 167 nuclear weapon carriers. They are based on the strategic missile forces, which are armed with 75 ground-based ballistic missile launchers. Strategic aviation has 80 Hun-6 aircraft (created on the basis of the Tu-16). The maritime component includes a nuclear-powered missile submarine with 12 Julang-1 missile launchers.

"Hun-6" (created on the basis of Tu-16)

The ground forces number 2.2 million servicemen and consist of 89 combined arms divisions of the field forces (including 3 divisions of "rapid reaction" and 11 tank divisions), most of which have been consolidated into 24 combined arms armies.

The air force has about 4,000 combat aircraft, mostly of obsolete types, and is designed mainly for air defense tasks and, to a lesser extent, for supporting ground forces. They are dominated by fighter aviation, which accounts for about 75% of the aircraft fleet.

J-10 fighters

The navy has about 100 large warships and 600 combat aircraft and naval aviation helicopters. To protect the coast, there are about 900 patrol ships capable of operating only in the coastal zone. The Chinese Navy does not yet have aircraft-carrying cruisers. For operations under water, there are about 50 Kilo-class diesel submarines in service.

In the 90s. The combat composition of the PLA has not undergone significant changes, which is explained by the attention of the country's leadership, primarily to the problems of restructuring the research complex and the defense industry. At the same time, the number of military equipment in the army and navy was somewhat reduced due to the removal of the most obsolete models from service.

KILO-class non-nuclear submarine (project 636)

The number of the PLA reserve is estimated by Western researchers at 1.2 million people. However, in the event of a threat to the PRC, it can easily be increased, since more than 600 thousand military personnel are dismissed from the army every year, and the number of the most trained part of the reserve (persons dismissed over the past five years) can be about 3 million people.

Modernization of the PLA at the present stage is carried out at a slow pace and is selective. The greatest efforts are being made to modernize the strategic nuclear forces by replacing obsolete liquid-propellant missiles with more advanced solid-propellant ones Dongfeng-41 and Juilang-2.

Recently, another direction has also been developed - the creation, on the basis of existing formations, of mobile forces of the PLA, designed to operate in local conflicts along the perimeter of the state border, as well as to support the people's armed police in ensuring internal security and public order. The number of this developing component is about 250 thousand people (9% of the ground forces), in the near future it is expected to include attack aircraft and part of the fleet forces in its composition. By 2010, mobile forces may include up to one third of the PLA (about 800 thousand people).

Along with the development of new types of conventional weapons, in particular the 90-11 main battle tank and the Jian-10 (P-10) multi-role fighter, steps are being taken to overcome China's lag behind militarily advanced countries in the field of precision weapons. The Chinese military leadership believes that this type of weapon has recently been actively proving its effectiveness. The widespread use of high-precision weapons during the recent NATO aggression in the Balkans, despite a number of misses (or specially planned actions) that led to the tragedy at the PRC Embassy in Yugoslavia, which killed 3 Chinese citizens, testifies to its high combat effectiveness.

Type 90-11 main battle tank

Fighter J-10 (Jian-10)

The Americans cannot accept the fact that in the person of the PRC they are acquiring another powerful competitor in the field of precision weapons. In 1997, the US Secretary of Defense report on China's military strategy expressed concern about the progress of work on the creation of a Chinese cruise missile, which could enter service in 2010. The US is also angry that in the foreseeable future, China may cease to be one of the potential US nuclear targets, since in 1996 Beijing began developing its own missile defense system, which is also scheduled to be completed in the design version by 2005-2010.

According to Chinese experts, the technical equipment of China's defense industry lags behind the advanced level by more than 15 years. In order to overcome this gap as soon as possible and solve the problems of defense modernization, the leadership of the PRC decided to resume military-technical cooperation with Russia. Today it is carried out on a long-term contractual basis in the context of developing relations of equal and trusting partnership between the two countries and covers such areas as military science, high technologies (including dual-use), space, and communications. China received the opportunity to purchase Russian military equipment, train military-technical specialists in Russia, and implement joint projects to develop, modernize and repair weapons. Such steps by China undoubtedly contribute to solving the most urgent problems of modernizing the PLA.

In recent years, China has purchased large quantities of military equipment from Russia; a license was acquired for the production of Russian Su-27 fighters (without the right to export to third countries), an agreement was signed on the repair of Chinese diesel submarines at Russian enterprises.

An analysis of Chinese doctrinal views and trends in defense construction in the current decade shows that China intends to continue the modernization of the military-industrial complex and the armed forces, considering these measures as a guarantee of external and internal security and a necessary condition for the successful economic and social development of the country.

The main trends in the field of defense construction of the PRC

The main trends in the field of defense construction of the PRC are formed under the influence of new moments in doctrinal views that have replaced the previous concept of preparing the country for a global war. Chief among them is the thesis that a new world war is hardly possible in the foreseeable future, since today there are opportunities to ensure a peaceful international situation for a relatively long period. At the same time, according to Chinese estimates, the stereotypes of Cold War thinking and politics from a position of strength have not been eliminated from the practice of international relations, as evidenced by the humanitarian catastrophe in the Balkans that erupted in April-June 1999 through the fault of the United States and NATO. The roles of countries and the balance of power in world politics do not have a constant configuration and, under certain conditions, can change in a direction unfavorable for China. Therefore, at the turn of the century, the country's leadership considers it important to turn China into a state with powerful armed forces capable of effectively protecting the country from external threats. This is largely due to the experience of relations with the West in the last century, when China, which has a high culture, but is weak militarily, subjected to intrigues and outright robbery by Western countries, experienced national humiliation and fell into semi-colonial dependence on them.

In this regard, as follows from official statements, in particular from the "White Paper" on national defense issues recently published by the State Council of the PRC, the main content of the PRC's policy in the field of military development is to strengthen defense, counter aggression and armed subversive activities, ensure state sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of the country. At the same time, it is emphasized that the PRC cannot be a source of aggression and will never and under no circumstances be the first to use nuclear weapons.

At the turn of the century, the prevailing trend in the field of military construction of the PRC was the improvement of the qualitative parameters of the defense potential while reducing the number of the PLA. The country's leadership puts forward a demand to strengthen the army at the expense of science and technology, to strengthen research of defense significance, to create and improve a mechanism for the defense industry that meets the conditions of a market economy, and to gradually upgrade weapons and equipment.

The armed forces are faced with the task of increasing the possibility of conducting combat operations in the event of sudden changes in the situation in the conditions of using modern technology, including high technologies.

One of the important trends in China's defense construction is the further reduction in the size of the PLA. In addition to the reduction by 1 million people announced in 1985, China in 1997 announced its intention to carry out a new reduction of this component by 500 thousand people by 2001 - from 3 million to 2.5 million people. The reduction is mainly in the ground forces (by 19%) and, to a lesser extent, the air and naval forces (by 11.6% and 11%, respectively). It is important to emphasize that this process is accompanied by measures to strengthen the People's Armed Police, whose strength is planned to increase from 1 million to 2 million by the year 2000.

China's nuclear strategy, which has pledged not to be the first to use nuclear weapons, is reflected in the concept of "limited nuclear retaliation." It involves the construction of nuclear deterrence forces capable of creating a threat of inflicting unacceptable damage to force a potential adversary to abandon the use of nuclear weapons against China. This approach does not focus on achieving nuclear parity with developed countries, and therefore is rational from the point of view of saving material and financial resources.

The formation of views on the construction of general-purpose forces takes place on the basis of an analysis of major armed conflicts that have taken place in the current decade. The evolution of views in this area has led to the adoption of the concepts of "rapid response" and "limited warfare under the conditions of the use of high technologies", which involve the creation of relatively compact armed forces equipped with modern equipment and weapons and capable of immediately performing combat missions in local conflicts. Accordingly, the PLA's mobile forces have been developed in the Chinese armed forces and special emphasis has been placed on the development of various military electronic systems, including early warning and warning systems, communications, command and control of troops and weapons, and electronic warfare.

According to Chinese statistics, China's defense spending in 2000 was about $10 billion and is one of the lowest in the world. Their share in the gross national product of the PRC does not exceed 1.5% (1995) and tends to decrease: in 1999 this figure was 1.1%.

However, skeptics believe that the official figures only reflect spending by the Ministry of Defense and do not take into account the appropriations for military needs provided for in the budgets of other departments and institutions. In addition, some Western scholars believe that part of the cost of maintaining military garrisons, local troops and the reserve is financed from the budgets of the provinces, and not from the central budget. With this in mind, China's real military spending is estimated by them as exceeding the official one. For example, the Japanese claim that the actual defense spending in the PRC in 199 amounted to about 30 billion dollars.

Be that as it may, it is quite obvious that, taking into account the objective need to modernize the defense complex, the foundations of which were formed in the 50-60s, the huge population of the country (more than 1.2 billion people), the vast area of ​​​​the territory and the length of land and maritime borders, the military spending of the PRC does not exceed the level corresponding to the principle of defense sufficiency. For comparison, in 2000 Japan's military spending was about 48; Great Britain - 38; Germany - 40; France - 47; USA - 290 billion dollars. That's who needs to take care of reducing their militaristic appetites!

The construction of the Chinese army in the 21st century is likely to be influenced by a number of external and internal factors that generally have a restraining effect on the financing of military spending.

External factors are characterized by the normalization of China's relations with neighboring countries and the world's major powers. A special place among them is occupied by the dynamically developing Russian-Chinese relations of equal partnership aimed at strategic interaction in the 21st century. China's growing integration into the world economy is gaining serious significance here as one of the necessary conditions for successful economic construction in this country.

Of the internal factors, the priority attention of the PRC leadership to ensuring domestic political stability in the state and solving complex socio-economic problems in the face of a shortage of natural resources and certain demographic and environmental tensions should be highlighted.

China's significant successes in the economic, political, social and other spheres, in addition to obvious dividends, brought it an unforeseen threat, namely, it gave rise to fears in the world, and in our country as well, related to China's alleged departure from commitment to peace and good neighborliness. As a result of a misunderstanding or deliberate distortion of China's military intentions, the thesis about the "Chinese threat" has appeared, periodically inflated in both Western and Russian media.

China deeply regrets that publications appear abroad that show a misunderstanding of Chinese foreign policy and defense construction. Their essence boils down to the following accusations:

1) after the reduction of Russian and American troops in the Asia-Pacific region (APR), China is trying to fill the resulting power vacuum;

2) China is going to become a military and economic superpower in the region;

3) with its purchases of modern types of weapons from Russia, the PRC is responsible for the arms race in the region;

4) China is just waiting to pump up its military muscles as quickly as possible and strike at neighboring countries, and even the United States.

Chinese experts refute these accusations, citing data on the number of weapons (including nuclear ones) of Russia and the United States in the region. In their opinion, they exceed the armaments of China. PRC scientists say that although Russia and the US have reduced armaments, these countries still have the strongest armies in the Asia-Pacific region, and therefore there is no "power vacuum" here, since the US and Russia did not leave it.

Refuting another accusation, the leaders and scientists of the PRC argue that China does not intend to seek hegemony and political diktat in the world, and even after becoming a sufficiently strong state, it will not strive for this.

As for the next accusation, Chinese experts believe that military modernization that meets the needs of modern defense is a huge problem for China, since the current state and level of the PLA is inferior in many respects to the armies of neighboring powers. In their opinion, China's military spending is less than the defense spending of even a country like South Korea and an economic entity like Taiwan.

There is a considerable amount of truth in these judgments. The second half of the 1980s and 1990s are characterized by the fact that internal threats worry China much more often and are sometimes more dangerous than external ones. For 20 years now, China has been focusing inward on vital reforms. For the Chinese leadership, the primary problems are internal, which interfere with the normal functioning of the state and pose serious threats to its existence. Social, economic, political, environmental problems carry a huge potential for creating serious crisis situations, which makes the security and stability of the country vulnerable.

Consequently, to create additional external problems for oneself means to be distracted from internal ones, and this would be contrary to the logic of Chinese reforms.

The foregoing gives reason to believe that at the beginning of the 21st century the Chinese army will not attack Russia or any other country. It is also highly doubtful that the PLA will ever forcibly invade its Taiwanese province, despite the statements of the PRC leadership at the end of the last century that they do not exclude violent actions against Taiwan if its leadership (which, by the way, left the political scene after recent political elections on the island) will disrupt the process of unification of the Chinese nation by its provocations.

It simply does not make sense for China to carry out armed aggression against Taiwan, since the latter is de facto already moving into the bosom of mainland China. Taiwan's investment in the mainland now amounts to tens of billions of dollars a year, and the business of leading Taiwanese corporations in the PRC is expanding at a cruising pace and acquiring gigantic proportions. Does it make sense to chop down a hen that sits on its own nest to lay golden eggs?

All activities of the PLA are determined today based on the principle of defense sufficiency. And those "specialists" who, drawing a bloody monster from China and its army, are trying to intimidate people and prevent the inevitable strengthening of Russian-Chinese cooperation, I would like to recall a good Russian proverb: "The thief shouts the loudest:" Stop the thief ""!

The Chinese army is considered the largest in the world. Today, over 2 million privates and officers serve in its ranks. Troops are formed on the basis of conscription. Young people from 18 to 24 years old serve in the active army. The service life is 2 years. The Chinese armed forces also include a people's militia, where men aged 18 to 35 serve as privates. Persons who have undergone army training form the core of the militia and form its officer corps.

The military craft in China is considered very prestigious and respected, so many conscripts continue to serve after two years, but already under a contract. Military personnel can count on the provision of a number of benefits, housing, increased pensions, special conditions for life and health insurance, state support when looking for work after being transferred to the reserve.

According to the latest orders of the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China, draft boards must give preference to young people with higher or completed secondary education. Many high-ranking Chinese military men in an interview note that now for China it is not so much a physically developed, but an educated soldier that is important.

Story

The Chinese army grew out of separate army detachments that supported the Communist Party of China in the summer of 1927 and opposed the Kuomintang government. Until 1949, the Chinese Red Army was the mainstay of the communists in the civil war. Also, the Chinese military distinguished themselves in repelling the aggression of the Japanese invaders during the Second World War. In 1946, the Chinese army received its official name - the PLA (National Liberation Army of China).

The USSR played a major role in the formation and formation of the PLA. The Soviet military gave the Chinese side all the weapons left after the defeat of the Kwantung Army in the Far East. Soviet specialists repeatedly came to China to help organize the army command and control system and bring with them the latest weapons.

Since 1949, the PLA has taken part in the following military conflicts:

• Korean War (1950-53);
• Sino-Vietnamese War (1979);
• border conflicts with India in 1962 and 1967;
• several border conflicts with Vietnam (between 1974 and 1990);
• conflict with the USSR over Damansky Island (1969);
• clashes with Taiwan, where the Kuomintang leaders settled, after the end of the Civil War.

In the 1990s, reforms were carried out in the army aimed at modernization. In 2015, Xi Jinping announced the start of a new reform that continues to this day.

Structure

The administration of the PLA is entrusted to the Central Military Council of the People's Republic of China. In fact, the composition of the military council of the country always coincides with the composition of another, already purely party body - the military council of the CPC Central Committee. The current chairman of both structures is Xi Jinping. The Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China is a state body that has no analogues in the world. Not only the army, but also the police, the people's militia and detachments of combatants are subordinate to the council. In fact, the Communist Party controls all power structures in the country.

It is curious that the PRC Ministry of Defense performs secondary functions and is much inferior in importance to the military council. It is responsible for conducting peacekeeping missions and organizing international military cooperation.

At the moment, the PLA includes five types of troops:

• ground troops. The most numerous branch of the armed forces. Includes infantry, armored, airborne, border, engineering, chemical, reconnaissance troops, etc.
• air Force. Until the end of the 1970s, the main task of the Chinese Air Force was only to support the ground army in combat in the country. But since the 1990s, aircraft have become capable of more diverse missions, such as strikes against land and sea targets outside of China. Today, the Celestial Empire has 4,000 combat aircraft and 700 launchers for anti-aircraft guided missiles.
• naval forces. The Chinese Navy includes three fleets (the North, East and South Seas). Each of these fleets consists of smaller units: the Coast Guard, the submarine and surface fleet, and naval aviation.
• rocket troops. One of the youngest branches of the military, which appeared only in 2016. Everything related to the activities of this military unit is kept a top secret by the Chinese government. Western powers show the greatest interest in China's nuclear potential and the volume of weapons of mass destruction, so American and European experts regularly put forward their assessments of the Chinese arsenal.
• strategic support troops. Another structure that emerged after the announcement of the 2015 reform. Very little is known about the VSP. The main task of the division: ensuring the superiority of China over the enemy in space and cyberspace. It is likely that the troops are responsible for intelligence activities, information gathering, satellite and radar systems.

PLA reform 2015-2020

In 2015, China began a large-scale military reform, designed for 5 years. World experts note the depth and significance of this reform. Many believe that it means not only fundamental changes in army life, but also opens a new stage in the political life of the entire state. The preparation of the reform went on for about 7 years, a huge theoretical and practical work was done, which required the involvement of both military and civilian specialists. Chinese experts note that for its development they used the experience of many powers (primarily Russia and the United States).

The main goals of the reform are:

• eliminating corruption and abuses in the army, and strengthening the CCP's control over the military. These two directions can be considered the main tasks of army modernization;
• the creation of a single headquarters for all branches of the armed forces, the reorganization of the PLA command system;
• removing some non-core tasks from the sphere of responsibility of the military;
• improving the professionalism of officers;
• changing the boundaries of military districts and improving the internal system of command and control of the military forces of individual provinces;
• the design of the structure responsible for conducting cyber warfare;
• the growing role of the Navy and Air Force;
• using the latest information technologies.

The features of this reform are associated not only with the technological breakthrough that began in China in the 21st century, but also with a change in Chinese foreign policy doctrine. If for almost the entire second half of the twentieth century, the Chinese were preparing for an armed conflict with the USSR and therefore attached the greatest importance to ground forces, now the priority direction of Chinese foreign policy is the protection of its territorial waters and dominance in the Pacific Ocean. This explains the mass layoffs of the military who served in the ground forces, and the enhanced development of the Navy and Air Force.

The change in the command structure of the army comes down, first of all, to the concentration of all resources in the hands of the Central Military Council. Until January 2018, four completely independent headquarters operated under the authority of the council. Under the reform, they were replaced by fifteen departments with narrower powers and a lower level of independence.

Many high-ranking officials and the military lament that the Chinese army is "stricken with a peaceful disease." The PLA has not taken part in real military action for many years, which some see not as a merit of Chinese diplomacy, but as a serious omission. By order of Xi Jinping, the army should regularly conduct regular real-time exercises. The conduct of such tests will be tightly controlled by the state, since in the early 2000s, almost all such activities in China resulted in grandiose money laundering scams.

Technological innovations

So far, Chinese military equipment is somewhat inferior to Russian and American, but it is obvious that over the next decade this gap will rapidly decrease, and then disappear altogether.

Today, the Chinese defense industry fully provides its army with the necessary weapons. Moreover, recently China has been increasingly winning tenders for the supply of weapons to other states, leaving behind European countries and the United States. Many powers prefer to buy Chinese weapons, even if they are more expensive than competitors' products.

At first, Chinese weapons were copied by Soviet and Russian products, and now they are European, American and Israeli ones. However, it would be fundamentally wrong to say that only copies are made in China and there are no own military developments. The main task now facing Chinese specialists is to eliminate dependence on foreign technologies.

One of the latest important Chinese military developments has been the latest submarine detection devices. Unlike traditional sonar, Chinese instruments are much more sensitive and accurate. They react to the slightest magnetic vibrations.

The Chinese managed to achieve no less success in the development of an aerial surveillance system. In 2018, a radar was successfully tested, which makes it possible to detect aircraft based on stealth technology at a great distance. The principle of operation of the radar is based on the use of T-rays (one of the varieties of electromagnetic radiation). T-beam generators have been used in industry before, for example, to detect hidden defects in products. But so far, no country has been able to create a generator of such power that would allow detecting an aircraft at a distance of more than 100 km.

In 2016, two of China's latest missiles, the TL-2 and TL-7, were unveiled at the Military Achievement Exhibition in Singapore. The TL-7 is an anti-ship missile that can be launched from the air, land, or ship. The TL-2 is designed to be launched from a rig or drone.

Another Chinese novelty, designed to bomb the enemy, grew out of Soviet developments. In the 1950s, the Chinese leadership received from the USSR the technical documentation necessary for the assembly of MiG-19 fighters. Aircraft assembled in China were named J-6 and until recently were the most popular combat vehicle in the arsenal of the PLA Air Force. Since this model is now outdated, Chinese engineers began to develop the latest kamikaze drones based on the J-6. Each such aircraft is a ground-based cruise missile.

The Taihan aircraft engine is also a unique Chinese development. The first such engines appeared back in the 1980s, but then they were significantly inferior to American and Soviet designs. For a long time, aircraft engines for the PLA Air Force were purchased abroad, but recently the Chinese side began to equip their aircraft with their own engines.

In parallel with military developments in China, space technologies are rapidly developing. In 2011, the first Chinese orbital station, Tiangong-1, was launched into orbit, modeled on Soviet stations. To date, two more similar Chinese vehicles have been in space. In 2022, Chinese engineers plan to launch the first multi-module manned orbital station.