It appears that the structure of the PLA’s New Heavy Corps will be similar to the British 1 Corps in Northern Germany during the Cold War. The PLA Corps will be structured around brigades and I believe the Corps itself will contain a heavy artillery group, a ground manoeuvre group, an aviation group and a battlefield support group which would include bridging, electronic warfare and logistics.
An early version of the corps envisioned a total of 500 Model 96 or Model 99 main battle tanks in two armoured and two mechanised brigades; 586 ZDB-97 tracked infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), 126 155mm PLZ-45 self-propelled guns; 96 120mm turreted self-propelled mortars; 36 Type 89 30 tube 122mm and 27 300mm 12 tube A-100 multiple rocket launchers; 12 DF-15D tactical missiles and 48 attack, 18 multipurpose and 60 transport helicopters and around 2,000 other types of vehicles.
This was clearly outside what the PLA is currently able to afford with armored brigades now have three armoured battalions for a total of 99 main battle tanks, one mechanised infantry battalion, one artillery battalion with 18 self-propelled guns and one air defence battalion of 18 AAA guns. Each armoured battalion will have three armoured companies, each of three platoons with each company having 11 main battle tanks; three in each platoon and two headquarters vehicles. There are no tanks at the battalion or brigade headquarters. This is a total of 33 main battle tanks.
The new mechanized infantry brigade is to have four mechanised infantry battalions, one armoured battalion, one fire support battalion, one engineer battalion and one communication battalion. Each mechanized infantry battalion has three mechanized infantry companies, each of three platoons with each company having 13 infantry fighting vehicles; four in each platoon and one headquarters vehicle. A complete brigade contains approximately 4,000 soldiers.
By comparison the British Army’s armored regiment (battalion) had tank squadrons (companies), each with four platoons of three Challenger 1 main battle tanks for a total of 58 tanks including headquarters vehicles. The mechanised infantry battalion had four companies of FV432 armoured personnel carriers, each of four platoons with four vehicles per platoon and one or two and the company and battalion headquarters. These vehicles were the direct equivalent of the PLA’s current ZSD89 APC and its family of vehicles, and the recent Type 96 and Type 99 main battle tanks. Similarly the battalion battle groups envisaged by the PLA are similar to the British Army battle groups of 1981. Each British army battle group was built around a battalion headquarters, a close reconnaissance troop (platoon) with eight Scimitar reconnaissance vehicles, an anti-tank troop with four to six armoured long range anti-tank guided missile vehicles, six self-propelled guns and one or two armoured vehicles with man portable surface to air missile systems.
This comparison quickly shows two glaring deficiencies in the PLA’s current structure and move towards modular combined arms battle groups. The first is the lack of a dedicated scout/close reconnaissance vehicle and the second, which in many ways is far more important, is the shortage of in-house infantry in the armored brigade and the mechanized infantry battalion.
The mechanised infantry lacks a fourth company in the infantry battalion meaning the armored brigades cannot create balanced battalion battle groups. Besides being unsuited to operations on complex terrain (urban and high altitude), armored forces that have neglected proper infantry support and have suffered large casualties include the Russian Army’s 131st Maykop Brigade on New Year’s Day 1995 in Grozny, and the Israeli tank forces during their initial counterattacks along the Bar Lev in the first morning of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
Reconnaissance in the New Corps
Unlike the German and British Armies, the PLA like the United States Army does not have a dedicated mechanised brigade reconnaissance element. Under the new corps/brigade structure there will be a reconnaissance element as part of the corps. In the tracked units, the medium reconnaissance vehicle will be the Model 03 amphibious reconnaissance vehicle, which is replacing the Model 62 light tank and the Model 63 amphibious tank in PLA service. It will operate ahead of the main forces; and provide a flanking screen up to four km on the flanks. It is too bulky and large for scouting and close-in reconnaissance which could be performed by the ZBD05 airborne vehicle which besides having a 30mm automatic gun can carry a scout section. This role may have been trialled with aviation and other armoured vehicles by the composite reconnaissance/cavalry brigade in the Peace Mission 2007 joint exercise. The Model 02 100mm assault gun would have provided medium reconnaissance and explain the large amount of assault guns compared to the number of armoured personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
“Unlike the German and British Armies, the PLA like the United States Army does not have a dedicated mechanised brigade reconnaissance element.”
The US does have them, they are called Cavalry or Scouts in the US Army.
DJ-E, you’re being too easy on this guy. Under the modular organization, the US Army has a RSTA squadron in each brigade. Where the “traditional” organization puts a company sized recon unit in each of the 3 brigades in a division, the modular organization puts a small battalion sized unit in each of the 4 brigades in a division.
The thing that stands out to me is the extraordinary amount of artillery in this New Heavy Corp – equivalent to that in 2 Western divisions.
Even though they’re not used in their doctrinal way, we have actually do have two corps-level reconaissance units. The 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment (and both were used to screen VII Corps and XVIII Airborne Corps) during Desert Storm.
The 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment is really an Infantry Brigade,they just didn’t want to eliminate the 2nd ACR “tradition” as far as keeping the name around.
Really we only have one pure Armored Cavalry Regiment in the Active/Reserve/National Guard ranks & that is the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.
As far as China goes,I think that she will be fighting through “proxies(North Korea,Burma,Philippine New People’s Army,Maoist terrorist groups in India,Angola,Zimbabwe,the Sudan,etc. None of these nations or groups are a “serious” threat,but they can be a severe thorn in the side or burr under the saddle)” until she feels that her forces are either built up enough,or that the opposing nation’s(like the U.S.) forces have degraded enough for her to counter.
For all who talk about “free trade” & how China wouldn’t attack the nation(U.S.) that makes her the most money,that’s why she has “proxies” & surrogates to do her fighting for her. Now that the Olympics are over,I want to see if things stay the same or deteriorate between the U.S. & China just like things have deteriorated between the U.S. & Russia over Georgia.
I think that the s**t is going to hit the fan pretty soon(figuratively) & both countries will be launching verbal assaults against one another.If only it will just stay at verbal slings & swipes at one another.
China’s military isn’t strong enough…..yet,but she has other ways to punish opponents because of the wealth she has.If military power didn’t count for anything(excluding military power),she showed the world that she is the new superpower as far as economics & “buying” power goes.She also has placed herself firmly in Africa to exploit their mineral wealth.
Can’t use this to the Vietnamese- too much jungle.
Can’t use this against the Indians- too mountainous.
Can’t use this against the The Taiwanese- too heavy to use amphibiously.
Use this on the Russian/Nork borders?
Roy,
I know that the 2d SCR will never do corps-level reconaissance again without anything larger than their current Strykers, but the former 2d ACR not too long ago filled that roll, the 3d ACR still can, and the author was wrong in his assertion.
TB,
“I know that the 2d SCR will never do corps-level reconaissance again without anything larger than their current Strykers”
Actually,why not? They could maybe be set up to be a “traditional” reconnaissance unit,but set up with Strykers instead of Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicles or M1 Abrams tanks.
It’s just that the whole Stryker Brigade Concept was supposed to be Interim(Motorized) Infantry Brigades.
Now that they are retiring the M113(so I hear) & replacing those vehicles with Stryker Vehicles & Bradley/Bradley Chassis vehicles in heavy units,maybe they could created a “Motorized(Stryker)” Cavalry Regiment,that is a “real” regiment.
Reflagging an infantry brigade as a Stryker Cavalry Regiment is like reflagging the 10th Mountain Division or the 25th Infantry Division into the 2nd or 3rd Armored Division,but maintaining the same “light” infantry TOE.
As far as China goes,she has so many tricks up her sleeve(like using proxies to fight for her),it’s most likely that she doesn’t really need a large “modern” army,she’ll just wait for her enemies’ defenses to degrade down to her level.
Here is one of China’s proxies right now acting up.
“NKorea halts denuclearisation.”
Is it really in China’s best interests for North Korea to halt their nuclear program & why is it then? I say it’s not,because it is one more headache to distract the U.S. from helping Taiwan if China tries to take it back(China most likely already has 5th Columnists embedded in Taiwan already to commit espionage & acts of “terrorism” against the Taiwanese government). China is not stupid,she knows what her military can & cannot do against her enemies.
Thank you for your comments about reconnaissance elemnents in the US Military – I should have said embedded in the brigade – I was going from an old org chart and was referring to mechanised and armoured units and not Stryker brigades. The Chinese mechanised brigade structure is the same for their Type 90/92 wheeled mechanised units too. The whole situation with org charts world wide is in flux but I will take on board that the US now has reconnaiisance embedded in the heavy units. Thank you for those comments. The purpose of the new corps initially is to ensure the flow of energy coming from Central Asia and to make sure ‘little brother’ in the east does what he is told.
Cheers,
Martin Andrew
Martin,
No worries on the mix up. The US Army has undergone massive changes in the last 4 years, and many of my peers haven’t learned all the new changes. The wiki article on the US Army’s structure is pretty sound as for how its all falling together:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigade_Combat_Team
Here is one of China’s proxies right now acting up.
“NKorea halts denuclearisation.”
Is it really in China’s best interests for North Korea to halt their nuclear program & why is it then? I say it’s not,because it is one more headache to distract the U.S. from helping Taiwan if China tries to take it back(China most likely already has 5th Columnists embedded in Taiwan already to commit espionage & acts of “terrorism” against the Taiwanese government). China is not stupid,she knows what her military can & cannot do against her enemies.
Posted by: Roy Smith at August 26, 2008 02:09 PM
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YEAHHHH.. SUUUURRREE.. realy, what are you smoking?
nuclear NK
1: means chinese loose influence on Korean Areas.
2: korean claims on own land in China will grow.
3: nuclear danger for China grows.
4: NK can nuke Beijing just for lulz and chinese can do nothing against because it means a war with South Korea and USA.
Aside that i will see american piss flushing out of presidents trousers when Canada or Mexico will start to build own nukes.. i hope your krank brain got a point of chinese position if koreans get own nukes.
If anyone Nuked Beijing, nothing in the world would stop Chinese retalliation. What would they have to lose?
—-If anyone Nuked Beijing, nothing in the world would stop Chinese retalliation. What would they have to lose?—
Everything else. Beijing is even not chinese core land. Its big border city between Manchurians, Mongols, middle north ethincs and chinese.
You write: “An early version of the corps envisioned a total of 500 Model 96 or Model 99 main battle tanks in two armoured and two mechanised brigades; 586 ZDB-97 tracked infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs)…”
If tank bn have 33 tanks and mechanised bn have 39 IFV – corps mast be have 3 armoured bdes (each 100 tanks, 78 IFV) and 3 mechanised bdes (each 66 tanks, 117 IFV)?
Answer my please