People's Liberation Army of China (PLA). Army of the People's Republic of China: numbers, structure. People's Liberation Army of China (PLA)

The size of China's army can be the envy of any modern sovereign state. According to official estimates, more than 2 million people are involved in the armed forces of the Celestial Empire. The Chinese themselves call their troops the People's Liberation Army of China. There is not a single example in the world of more numerous armed forces. Experts say that for recent years the number of Chinese soldiers decreased due to the new military-political doctrine. According to it, the main focus in the PRC army is now placed not on the quantity of manpower, but on the quality of weapons and equipment of the troops.

History of the formation of the Chinese armed forces

Despite the fact that the domestic militarization of the PRC was first carried out in 1927, its history dates back much earlier. Scientists believe that in fact the army Ancient China was formed approximately 4 thousand years ago. And there is evidence of this.

We are talking about the so-called Terracotta Army of China. This name was adopted to describe the terracotta statues of warriors at the mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang in Xi'an. Full-size sculptures were buried in the 3rd century BC. e. together with the body of the emperor of the Qin dynasty, whose policy achievement was the unification of the Chinese state and the connection of the links of the Great Wall.

Historiographers report that the future ruler began building his tomb while still a 13-year-old teenager. According to the idea of Ying Zheng (that was the name of the emperor before ascending to the throne), the sculptures of warriors were supposed to remain next to him even after death. The construction of the mausoleum required the efforts of about 700 thousand workers. Construction lasted almost 40 years. Contrary to tradition, clay copies of warriors were buried with the ruler instead of living soldiers. China's Terracotta Army was discovered in 1974 while drilling an artesian well near the ancient Chinese capital, Xi'an.

If we talk about the modern legions of this country, then they are the direct heirs of the communist combat units that arose during intrastate battles in the 20-30s of the previous century. One fateful date stands out from the history of the Chinese People's Army. On August 1, 1927, an uprising took place in the city of Nanchang, which became the driving lever in the mechanism for the founding of what was then called the Red Army. The then armed forces were headed by the future leader of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong.

The PLA (People's Liberation Army of China) received its current name only after the end of World War II, and from the moment of its formation it was the Red Army that fought against the combat units of the Kuomintang and the Japanese invaders.

After the devastating surrender of Japan, the Soviet Union decided to transfer the weapons of the Kwantung Army to a neighboring friendly state. Voluntary formations equipped with USSR weapons took an active part in the war on the Korean Peninsula. Thanks to the efforts and help of Stalin, the Chinese were able to build new combat-ready troops. Not the least role in the formation of the armed forces of the Celestial Empire of that period was played by semi-partisan associations. In 1949, after the proclamation of the People's Republic of China, the army acquired the status of a regular armed force.

Development of Chinese troops in the second half of the twentieth century

After the death of Joseph Stalin, relations between the once partner countries began to deteriorate, and in 1969, a serious border conflict broke out between the USSR and China on Damansky Island, which almost caused the outbreak of a full-scale war.

Since the 50s, the Chinese army has been subjected to significant reductions several times. The most significant event that affected the number of active troops occurred in the 80s. At that time, the Chinese army was represented mainly by ground forces, that is, it was geared towards a possible military conflict with Soviet Union.

After some time, relations between the countries stabilized. The Chinese, realizing that the threat of war from the northern side had passed, turned their attention to internal problems. Since 1990, the country's leadership has launched a large-scale program to improve the current model of the national army. China is still actively modernizing its navy, aviation, and missile forces.

From 1927 to the present day, tremendous work has been done to reform the PLA. The successful transformations led to a new division of the army according to territorial affiliation and the formation of new branches of the military. The country's leadership, led by Xi Jinping, see their goal as achieving the highest level of controllability and combat effectiveness of the Chinese army, optimizing the structure of combat units and creating troops that have an advantage in the era of information technology.

Indicators of the PRC armed forces

Like a number of other states, Chinese legislation has introduced compulsory military service. However, the number of people seeking to join the ranks of the regular troops is so large that in the entire history of the existence of the PRC army (since 1949), the authorities have not carried out a formal conscription. Give back to the Motherland military service for every Chinese, regardless of gender, it is a matter of honor. In addition, military craft is the only way for most Chinese peasants to feed their families. Soldiers are accepted into volunteer units of the Chinese army until they reach 49 years of age.

The armed forces of the People's Republic of China are a separate structural unit that is not subordinate to either the Communist Party or the government. Two specially formed committees are called upon to manage the army in China - the State and the Party.

It is difficult for a person far from military affairs to imagine the true power of the military “machine” of the Celestial Empire. For a substantive understanding, let's look at the numbers:

Both men and women over 19 years of age have the right to join the ranks of various types of troops.
The size of the Chinese army, according to rough estimates of experts, is about 2.5 million people.
From year to year, more than $215 billion is allocated from the state budget for the maintenance of the armed forces.

An interesting feature of the Chinese army’s weapons is their similarity to the Soviet ones. For the most part, Chinese weapons and equipment are a direct legacy of the USSR, copies of Soviet models. Over the past decades, in the course of modernization, the weapons of the Chinese army have increasingly been replenished with new types of ultra-modern weapons, which are not inferior in their parameters to their world analogues.

The beautiful half of the Chinese troops

Since the formation of the PLA, not only men have joined its ranks. Women in the Chinese army occupy predominantly positions with minimal threat to life. As a rule, this is the field of communication and healthcare.

The first graduation of female Marines from the South China Navy dates back to 1995. About 10 years ago, representatives of the fair sex began to be allowed to take fighter pilot exams. Some ladies have become captains in the Navy and manage warships and crew. Women, just like men, march in Chinese army parades. Military demonstrations take place in China once every ten years. According to experts, ladies type the step clearly and competently, in no way inferior to men.

On the composition of the military forces of the People's Republic of China

The strength of the current PLA has been significantly reduced compared to the Chinese army of the 1960s and 70s. But, despite this, against the background of the combat effectiveness of the armies of other states, the troops of the Celestial Empire still look impressive. The main difference between China's former armed forces is that the main resource for their formation was soldiers, that is, manpower. At the same time, the number of units of military equipment amounted to several dozen throughout the country. Today's Chinese army includes all units of modern troops:

land;
air force;
navy;
strategic nuclear forces;
special forces and other types of combat groups, in the absence of which it is impossible to imagine any army of a modern state.

In addition, the Chinese army annually receives new types of ballistic missiles and intercontinental weapons. Considering that each nuclear power keeps full information about the state of its weapons potential secret, it is likely that China also has an order of magnitude more nuclear warheads than are officially presented. According to publicly available information, there are about 200 isotopically charged carriers in the country.

Missile and ground forces

The strategic units of the PRC armed forces have access to 75 ground-based ballistic missile launchers and about 80 Hong-6 aircraft belonging to the strategic nuclear aviation forces as basic equipment. The command of the Chinese flotilla has at its disposal a nuclear submarine equipped with twelve launchers for launching Julan-1 missiles. Despite the fact that it was developed this type weapon was more than 30 years ago, it is considered effective today.

As for the composition of the ground forces, in China this unit has the following resources:

2.5 million soldiers;
about 90 divisions, of which a fifth are tank and rapid reaction divisions.

Chinese Air Force and Navy

The military aviation of the People's Republic of China openly declares the presence of about 4 thousand aircraft. Moreover, most of them represent an outdated “legacy” from the USSR, which was transferred by the Union. Many operational aircraft are models designed on the basis of Soviet flying machines. More than two-thirds of the PRC's aircraft fleet are fighters used to destroy military targets and air defense. Not long ago, Chinese aircraft were not designed to support ground forces. Over the past few years, the situation in in this direction has changed radically.

More than a hundred warships and several hundred helicopters and aircraft belonging to the naval aviation department make up the Chinese naval forces. To regularly guard the border and coastal zones, the Chinese Navy uses thousands of equipped patrol ships.

Not many people know that China owns the aircraft carrier Liaoling (formerly Varyag). The PRC purchased it from the Ukrainian fleet for a fairly impressive amount - $25 million. The United States prevented the purchase of the aircraft carrier, so the Chinese company had to resort to a peculiar trick: a private company acquired the Varyag, which in the documents received the status of a floating amusement park. As soon as the aircraft carrier arrived in China, it was decided to complete and improve it. Not long ago, the PRC created two more aircraft carriers based on the Liaoling model.

Military-political partnership

Despite the fact that the Celestial Empire continues to actively develop weapons, this country still lags behind the superpowers in the field of high-precision weapons. A considerable share of the funds allocated to ensure the defense capability of the state goes to the development of a new type of weapon. The country's leadership has chosen this course, because, in his opinion, the future belongs to precision weapons.

To get an objective assessment and compare the armies of China and the United States, there is no need to list all the super-powerful weapons of both powers at their disposal. Without further arguments, it is clear that the PRC has something to strive for in the field of military weapons. Despite all the scientific and technical achievements of designers, the Chinese defense industry still lags significantly behind the American one. It is only worth noting that the United States, as the main competitor of the Chinese in the international arena, does not particularly hide its dissatisfaction with their successes.

In order to gradually reduce the gap with the world leader, the PRC decided to actively develop cooperation with Russian Federation in the military-technical field. China owes much of its rapid development of its army to its partner. Thanks to Russia, which not only supplies the latest weapons, but also takes part in developments military equipment Along with Chinese specialists, the PRC managed to take a decisive step forward.

Today, many joint Russian-Chinese projects are operating, various agreements have been concluded at the intergovernmental and interstate levels in the following areas:

joint military technological processes and development of new weapons;
studying technologies used both to destroy military targets and to protect civilians;
cooperation in the space field, which involves conducting numerous projects and developing programs;
strengthening relations in the communications sector.

The rapid development of partnership relations between Russia and China is of significant importance for the armies of both states. Increasing the pace of modernization processes of the armed forces of China is not welcomed by the United States, which fears the potential emergence of a direct competitor. At the same time, the number of concluded cooperation agreements between Russia and China has increased significantly over the past few years. The most significant achievements in the sphere of relations between these two countries are worth noting the acquisition of SU-27 fighters, as well as permission for their production in China, and the consent of the Russian side to conduct repair work Chinese submarines on its territory.

Main priorities in the field of defense construction

Comparing the armies of China of the last century and our time has enormous differences. The change in the military-political doctrine of the PRC and the competent setting of priorities have brought real results in the development of the armed forces of the republic. Numerical reductions against the backdrop of rapidly proceeding technical modernization, requiring the annual allocation of impressive budget sums, did not in any way affect the combat effectiveness of the Celestial Army. On the contrary, China's position in the international arena has strengthened significantly.

The country's leadership will not consider suspending army modernization as long as the United States acts in interstate relations from a position of strength. The PRC plans to reach a level of armed forces at which the republic will be able to protect its borders and strike back at the enemy. For the same purpose, huge funds are allocated from the budget for the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads.

China's nuclear weapons policy fits into the concept of a "limited nuclear retaliatory strike." Despite the fact that the military-political doctrine of the PRC implies the development of nuclear potential, its presence should be perceived by other states not as a threat, but as a deterrent that can be used in response against an enemy using nuclear weapons on the territory of the republic.

Mobile rapid reaction teams, whose task is to quickly move to areas of active conflict and neutralize it, are of strategic importance in the field of defense construction. According to the provisions of this concept, the Chinese army is developing mobile forces, annually equipping them with modern electronics, including systems:

long-range detection and communications;
remote control weapons and troops;
electronic warfare.

Chinese military funding

When comparing the armies of China and Russia, the difference between the amount of funds allocated annually for the maintenance of the armed forces is striking. If the Russian military budget over the past few years has averaged around $65 billion, then the growing Chinese spending on troop modernization has already exceeded $200 billion. In this context, the Chinese army is second only to the United States. At the same time, the Chinese allocate only 1.5-1.9% of the country’s GDP for defense. Interestingly, this figure was $50 billion just ten years ago. As GDP grows, funding for the Chinese military is expected to increase proportionately.

The development of trade relations with most world powers contributes to the normalization of diplomatic relations. As already noted, the warmest friendly relations, based on the terms of equal partnership, are maintained between China and Russia.

Does China want world domination?

The size and armament of the Chinese army allows us to consider this country one of the strongest potential adversaries. But since any successes and achievements give rise to envy, suspicion and slander, the republic did not escape this fate. The country's leadership expresses regret that individual states treat China as a potential aggressor. The reason for such suspicions is an incorrect understanding of Chinese foreign policy. Among the versions are the following:

The PRC strives to become the most significant military force in the Asia-Pacific region, so the republic began to invest heavily in the army as soon as Russia and the United States reduced the number of warships in this area.
The purchase of modern weapons from Russia provokes an arms race. Allegedly, this is considered one of the real reasons why the DPRK (North Korea) decided to acquire nuclear warheads.
The modernization of Chinese troops is carried out only in order to strike a blow at the United States.

These accusations are refuted by military experts from the Middle Kingdom. China is not seeking global domination, but rapid growth economic indicators it would be more correct to perceive it as a normal business practice that strives to expand and increase profits.

The process of modernizing the army itself, according to the PRC authorities, lies a heavy burden on the shoulders of the state economy. However, China has no right to refuse to improve its armed forces, since the country’s army is at the moment vulnerable to stronger troops of other powers.

The United States assumes that the PRC will launch a military offensive from Taiwan, with which the Chinese have certain territorial disputes. But such thoughts have no logical basis in light of the steadily developing economic relations between China and Taiwan. The two countries are linked by large annual turnover. Therefore, why should China lose billions of dollars in profit?..

Such accusations can be heard mainly from the United States or its allies. Apparently, it is beneficial for America to portray China in a bad light, arguing that China is just waiting for the moment to attack. What goal are the Americans actually pursuing by putting a spoke in the wheels of the Celestial Empire? Most likely, America is afraid of losing world leadership. It does not need a strong competitor, another superpower on the world stage.

The military-political leadership of China, judging by foreign press reports, is still heading towards the militarization of the country, increasing its military-economic potential, and equipping the armed forces with modern military equipment. The People's Daily newspaper called for the practical implementation of one of the main behests of Mao Tse-tung - “strengthen preparations for the Great Patriotic War.”

In order to realize their hegemonic plans, Beijing leaders are conducting active militaristic propaganda and comprehensively speeding up military preparations. “War is a completely normal phenomenon, and therefore it is inevitable,” the Chinese Minister of Defense said in one of his speeches. Guided by this “principle,” Beijing today is feverishly arming itself, looking for keys to the arsenal of NATO countries, asking to become NATO allies and persistently demanding the all-round military strengthening of this aggressive bloc as a weapon in the fight against world socialism. Thus, at the XXXIII session of the UN General Assembly, the Chinese Foreign Minister openly called on NATO countries to strengthen their “self-defense” and made it clear that Beijing would be on the side of this bloc in the event of a military conflict.

Blocking with the reactionary imperialist forces, Beijing leaders not only call on them to unite against the “common enemy” (USSR and other states of the socialist community), but are also actively increasing their military and economic potential, especially their armed forces. This, for example, can be seen in the study of the American H. Nelsen “The Chinese Military System”. The book outlines the structure of the armed forces, the bodies of the highest military command, the military-administrative division, the characteristics of the types of armed forces and the people's militia.

According to the author of the book, China has numerous formations, formations and units that make up regular and local troops, as well as people's militia.

The first include: missile forces (in Chinese terminology - 2nd artillery), ground forces, air force and air defense, navy. The total number of regular units, formations and their headquarters is over 4 million people, including: ground forces - 3.25 million, air force and air defense - 400 thousand, navy - 300 thousand people.

According to the 1978 constitution, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces is the chairman of the CPC Central Committee (Fig. 1). He exercises general leadership of the armed forces through Military Council of the Central Committee(composition is not constant), the working body of which is its standing committee. The latter includes the Chairman of the CPC Central Committee (also Chairman of the Council), the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff and other high-ranking figures.

War Council develops the main directions of the military-political course and the development of the armed forces, determines the military budget, approves the appointments of command staff from the division commander and above, and also solves other important problems. Commanders of branches of the armed forces and branches of the armed forces, and military districts can participate in extended meetings of this governing body.

Direct management of the armed forces, as noted in H. Nelsen's book, is exercised by the Ministry of Defense through the General Staff, the headquarters of the missile forces, the Air Force and Air Defense, the Navy, the main departments (political and logistics) and various departments. The author emphasizes that there is no ground forces headquarters in China. Its functions are performed by the general staff, whose chief is also the commander of this branch of the armed forces.

The General Staff exercises operational control over the troops and command and control bodies (Fig. 2). It consists of the following main departments: operational, intelligence, political, combat training, mobilization, communications, chemical troops, security troops, military educational institutions, cartography, as well as two departments (weapons and administrative). If necessary, orders from the Chief of the General Staff can be transmitted directly to formations and units, bypassing their direct commands.

Responsibility for indoctrinating personnel in the spirit of Maoism, strengthening military discipline and morale in the Chinese armed forces is assigned to the main political department. It also deals with internal security (counter-intelligence) issues in the army. One of its main tasks is to maintain communication between the army and the population. IN wartime The department is responsible for planning and conducting “psychological” warfare with the enemy, and also works with prisoners of war.

The following departments (departments) have been created as part of the main political administration: organizational, personnel, propaganda (in charge of issues of ideological indoctrination of personnel), work with youth, communication with the masses (maintaining communication between the army and the civilian population), culture and others. The department carries out its work in the army through a system of party committees, political departments and political commissars.

The Main Logistics Directorate provides the armed forces with weapons and military equipment, fuels and lubricants, ammunition, transport and other types of provisions, and also provides medical care. In addition to rear agencies and units, his subordination includes railway troops and motor transport units, as well as some units not included in combat formations (engineering, communications)

In military-administrative terms, the country's territory is divided, as reported in the Japanese reference book "Chugoku Soran", into 11 military districts of the first category (large): Xinjiang, Lanzhou, Beijing, Shenyang, Chengdusk, Wuhan, Nanjing, Jinan, Fuzhou, Kunming , Guangzhou. The headquarters of the Xinjiang region is located in Urumqi, and the rest are in cities of the same name. Large military districts, in turn, are divided into provincial ones (two or three in each).

The commands of the first-class military districts manage the daily activities of the regular (field) troops, and the provincial ones perform the functions of protecting the territory and important facilities, are responsible for conscription into the army and the employment of demobilized military personnel, and organize the training of personnel of local troops and people's troops. militia.

In addition, departments of national armament were created under the revolutionary committees of districts and communes, performing the functions of military commissariats.

The recruitment of the armed forces is carried out in accordance with the Law on Active Military Service, adopted by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly people's representatives March 7, 1978. On its basis, a system of recruiting the armed forces was introduced, combining military service with voluntary (previously not practiced) recruitment into the army. For military personnel called up under compulsory recruitment, the law establishes the following terms of service in the ground forces - three years (except for technical units, where they serve for four years), in the Air Force and coastal units of the Navy - four years, on ships - five years. The service life of voluntary military personnel is determined to be 15 - 20 years.

Regular conscriptions are usually held once a year (from October 1 to the end of February). The annual size of the conscription contingent is established by the Ministry of Defense and is distributed among the provinces in proportion to their population. Due to the large number of young people in China, about 10 percent are drafted every year. young men (almost one in ten people). They are subjected to careful medical selection and security checks. They must be physically healthy and have “positive” recommendations from work collectives and neighbors in their place of residence.

Rocket Forces, according to H. Nelsen, began to be created in the early 60s. As nuclear forces built up, the views of the Chinese leadership on the nature of warfare changed. It believes that the old provisions on “ people's war”, put forward by Mao Tse-tung, with modern ones, which consist in the fact that a future war can be waged using both conventional weapons and nuclear weapons.

To date, as noted in Nelsen's book X, several missile bases and testing sites have been deployed on Chinese territory to support launches, technical tests and inspections of strategic ballistic missiles. In particular, they carry more than 100 ballistic missiles with a firing range of 1,200 km and 2,800 km. Work is underway to create missiles with a longer firing range (5,600 and 12,000 km) and missiles for submarines. In addition, light and medium bombers, as well as fighter-bomber aircraft, can be used as carriers of nuclear weapons.

Ground forces, as assessed by foreign military experts in the book “The Chinese Military System”, the magazine “Arms and Weapons” and the English reference book “Military Balance”, form the basis of the Chinese armed forces (over 80 percent of the total number armed forces). They include almost all types of troops - infantry, armored troops, artillery, signal troops, chemical, engineering and railway troops. In total, this type of armed forces has 136 divisions, including 12 tank divisions and three airborne divisions.

The main and most numerous branch of the military is the infantry. Organizationally, it is represented by infantry divisions (121) and other units (subunits).

The armored forces are consolidated into 12 tank divisions, representing the reserve of the main command, and tank (self-propelled tank) regiments, which are part of the infantry divisions. They have about 10 thousand tanks.

According to Military Balance, artillery formations (more than 20 divisions), units and units are armed with about 18 thousand guns (including self-propelled guns), over 20 thousand mortars, as well as a significant number of multiple launch rocket systems and anti-tank funds.

Subunits and units of signal troops are organizationally part of divisions. At the same time, most first-class military districts have separate signal regiments, and provincial ones have battalions. X. Nelsen believes that all of them are not sufficiently equipped with technical means; they mainly use wired communications. Chemical troops are currently represented by several separate regiments, as well as chemical battalions and chemical defense companies, respectively, part of army corps and infantry divisions.

The engineering troops are consolidated into separate regiments (pontoon-bridge, construction, water supply, electrical and others), subordinate to the main rear department and the commands of the zone districts (up to 30 regiments in total).

In addition, each infantry division has one engineer battalion.

The railway troops have 15 divisions that are engaged in construction and repair railways, and sometimes by servicing individual lines. To carry out large-scale work, the civilian population is brought in to help these troops.

Most of the infantry formations are consolidated into army corps of three divisions (38 in total). Nelsen's book notes that the Chinese ground forces have the following types of army corps: reinforced, heavy, light and mountain infantry. The difference between them lies in their purpose and equipment with weapons and vehicles. Reinforced and heavy hulls include tanks, artillery pieces of larger calibers and a significantly larger number of vehicles.

On average, the number of personnel in army corps can be 46-51 thousand people. According to the author of this book, enhanced army corps includes three infantry divisions, a tank regiment and corps artillery. It consists of over 300 tanks, 200 armored personnel carriers, about 140 guns and mortars (caliber 120 mm and above), and up to 2,350 different vehicles.

Infantry divisions are divided into the same types as army corps, and differ from each other in the number of weapons. Typically, they consist of three infantry, tank (tank-propelled) and artillery regiments and other combat support units. There are no tanks in light and mountain infantry formations.

Local troops are subordinate to provincial commands and are intended to perform limited tasks. Currently, as reported in the Military Balance directory, they include 70 infantry divisions and 130 separate regiments.

The largest grouping of ground forces (approximately 40 percent of all personnel), according to the magazine Chugoku Koge Tsudzin (Japan), is located in Northeast China (six army corps), Northern China (eight) and Northwestern China (three ). Airborne divisions are stationed in the Wuhan Military District.

Air Force and Air Defense, as reported in Military Balance, include all types of aviation, missile defense units, anti-aircraft artillery and radio engineering units. The aircraft fleet numbers approximately 5,000 aircraft, of which about 4,000 are fighters, more than 500 fighter-bombers, 80 medium and up to 400 light bombers. The military transport aviation includes almost 450 transport aircraft and 300 helicopters.

Aviation command is currently exercised by the main headquarters of the RBC, which organizationally consists of the following departments: operational, political, combat training, organizational, logistics, communications, personnel, educational institutions, engineering and technical, civil aviation and meteorological services.

Organizationally, the Air Force is organized into air divisions and separate regiments. In total, they have about 40 aviation divisions, including: bomber - five, attack - four, fighter - about 30. Most of the air divisions are part of the air corps.

The air defense forces have up to 100 anti-aircraft missile systems, 20 anti-aircraft artillery divisions and 30 separate anti-aircraft artillery regiments (10 thousand guns in total), as well as 22 radio technical regiments. It is also planned to use all available fighter aviation divisions in the interests of air defense of important areas and facilities.

More than 30 aviation schools have been created in China to train flight and technical personnel of the Air Force and Air Defense.

According to the author of the book “The Chinese Military System,” formations and units of the Air Force and Air Defense are capable of providing air support to ground forces and carrying out air defense of important military and military-industrial facilities and groupings of their troops. In recent years, the Chinese leadership has been trying to update the military equipment of this type of armed forces and has been intensively negotiating with a number of NATO countries on the purchase of modern aircraft and helicopters.

Naval forces are the smallest branch of China's armed forces and consist, as indicated in the Jane reference book for 1978-1979, of formations of warships, naval aviation and coastal artillery units. Organizationally, they are combined into three fleets (Northern, Eastern and Southern). In total, the Navy has approximately 1,050 warships of the main classes and various boats, including 77 diesel torpedo submarines, nine guided missile destroyers, more than 160 missile boats and 200 torpedo boats. IN Northern Fleet(operational zone - the Yellow Sea and the northern part of the East China Sea) there are more than 300 ships and boats, in Eastern(from the port of Lianyungang on the East China Sea to the border between the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong) - up to 450 ships and boats, in South(water area of the South China Sea to the Chinese-Vietnamese border) - about 300 ships and boats. The Navy's aircraft fleet consists of almost 700 combat aircraft, including 130 light bombers (torpedo bombers) and 500 fighters.

Coastal missile and artillery units are armed mainly with large-caliber artillery. Most of the fleet's forces are small ships and boats designed for operations in coastal waters.

American H. Nelsen believes that the Chinese Navy is capable of solving problems of coastal defense and protecting its sea communications, fighting enemy surface ships and convoys during sea passage, carrying out the transfer of troops and military equipment by sea on a limited scale, landing small tactical landings and sabotage -reconnaissance groups behind enemy lines.

Particular attention in the development of the Chinese Navy is paid to the creation of submarines, missile ships and boats. Among the new products of Chinese shipbuilding, as emphasized in the magazine "Mnliterary Review", there are URO destroyers and URO frigates.

People's militia- a mass paramilitary organization in which persons who are not on active military service undergo military training. As noted in Nelsen’s book, according to the age and level of training of the trainees, the people’s militia is divided into cadre and general militia.

The personnel militia (mostly former military personnel, numbering more than 15 million people) is divided into armed (about 7 million people) and unarmed.

Training of militias of professional unarmed militia is carried out at the place of work. Several days a year are allocated for classes on military issues.

The training program for professional armed militia is designed for 20-45 days throughout the year. It includes the study of the material part of small arms, grenade throwing, hand-to-hand combat, small arms training, demolition, laying anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, as well as practicing tactics of small units.

Personnel of the professional armed militia are involved in internal security of facilities, maintaining public order and patrolling in border areas.

Persons who have not completed active military service are enrolled in the general militia. When training personnel, most of the time is devoted to individual training and indoctrination.

During the operational and combat training of Chinese troops, much attention is paid to maneuver actions. They combine a rapid attack, forward movement and rapid withdrawal, concentration and dispersal of forces and means, as well as the conduct of active operations in various types battle.

The American newspaper The New York Times reported that China has recently conducted major exercises at a higher technical level than before.

The command of the Chinese armed forces attaches great importance to the development in soldiers of such qualities as fanaticism, physical endurance, unpretentiousness, etc. Up to 30 percent. educational time is allocated for intensive ideological indoctrination of personnel in the spirit of Maoism, blind obedience to superiors, nationalism, chauvinism and hatred of other peoples. An important place in ideological indoctrination is occupied by instilling hatred of the USSR, its Armed Forces and people.

This is how foreign military experts characterize the Chinese armed forces. At the same time, the foreign press emphasizes that the current Chinese leadership is persistently striving to equip its armed forces with the latest weapons and military equipment so that they are able to fulfill its great power and hegemonic aspirations.

Colonel K. Borisov

Armed forces of the world

Chinese Armed Forces. PLA Ground Forces

The reforms that began in China at the end of 1978 also affected the PLA. It experienced a significant reduction in personnel, primarily affecting the ground forces. Nevertheless, the PLA in general and its ground forces in particular still remain the largest in the world in terms of personnel. Thanks to the huge surplus of conscription resources, the PLA command has the opportunity to select for service the best conscripts in terms of physical and intellectual indicators (mainly educated urban youths). The rest undergo initial military training and form a huge reserve (at least 40 million people) in case great war. They staff the reserve troops.

Thanks to the successes of Chinese science and the enormous production capacity of the Chinese military-industrial complex, over the past decade and a half, the PLA has experienced a radical qualitative upgrade of weapons and equipment, with virtually no reduction in its quantity. China today confidently ranks first in the world in the production of military equipment of almost all classes, and the pace of production is only increasing.

Since 2016, China's ground forces have been divided into five commands, which replaced the previous seven military regions. Since 2017, a reduction in the number of armies and the transformation of tank, mechanized, motorized infantry and mountain infantry brigades into combined arms (mixed) brigades of homogeneous composition began.

It should be noted that although China's information openness has increased significantly over the past two to three decades, the composition of the PLA is largely classified. Only the names of the military districts and the numbers of the armies included in them are known exactly. The number and numbers of parts and connections are known quite well, however, the data given below cannot be considered absolutely accurate. The same applies to the number of weapons and equipment. The values that will be given at the end of the article are estimates and are almost certainly underestimated.

Organizational structure

Directly subordinate to the command of the ground forces are two provincial military districts, formerly part of the Lanzhou Military District, and then the Western Command, as well as the Beijing garrison, formerly part of the Beijing Military District, and then the Central Command.

Xinjiang Provincial Military District with special status, despite the difficult geographical conditions and remoteness from the most developed areas of the PRC, has very high potential. It includes the 8th light mechanized, 4th motorized infantry, 6th and 11th mountain motorized infantry divisions, 84th artillery brigade, 84th air defense brigade, 84th special forces brigade, 84th army aviation brigade, 84th Engineer Brigade, 84th Support Brigade, 15 Border Brigades (361st - 375th).

Tibetan Provincial Military District with special status includes the 52nd and 53rd mountain infantry, 54th combined arms brigade, 85th anti-aircraft missile brigade, 85th artillery brigade, 85th army aviation brigade, 85th engineering brigade, 85th brigade special forces, 85th support brigade, eight border brigades (351st - 358th).

Beijing Garrison It includes the 1st and 3rd garrison divisions, an artillery division.

The remaining troops are divided among five new commands.

Northern Command (the headquarters of the ground forces is located in Jinan) is located in the northeast of the PRC and is focused on Far East Russia, Mongolia and the Korean Peninsula. Includes three armies from the former Shenyang and partly Jingnan military districts.

Included 78th Army(headquarters in Changchun) there are the 8th, 48th, 68th, 115th, 202nd, 204th combined arms brigades, 78th SSO, 78th artillery, 78th engineering, 78th Support, 78th Army Aviation, 78th Air Defense Brigade.

79th Army(Liaoyang) includes the 46th, 116th, 119th, 190th, 191st, 200th general arms brigades, 79th artillery brigade, 79th air defense brigade, 79th special forces brigade, 79th 1st Army Aviation Brigade, 79th Engineer Brigade, 79th Support Brigade.

80th Army(Weifang) includes the 47th, 69th, 118th, 138th, 199th, 203rd combined arms brigades, 80th artillery and 80th air defense brigades, 80th special forces brigade, 80th Army Aviation Brigade, 80th Engineer Brigade, 80th Sustainment Brigade.

Troops of district subordination include 11 border brigades (from 321st to 331st), four coastal defense brigades (from 332nd to 335th).

Central Command (ground forces headquarters in Shijiazhuang) is the strongest in the PLA. It is a reserve for other commands and includes three armies from the former Beijing and the main part of the Jingnan military districts.

81st Army(Zhangjiakou) includes the 7th, 70th, 162nd, 189th, 194th and 195th general arms brigades, 81st artillery brigade, 81st special forces brigade, 81st air defense brigade, 81st 1st Army Aviation Brigade, 81st Engineer Brigade, 81st Sustainment Brigade.

82nd Army(Baoding) is the most powerful ground formation of the PLA; the latest weapons and equipment are received here first and new methods of conducting combat operations are developed. It includes the 6th, 80th, 151st, 188th, 196th, 205th combined arms brigades, 82nd artillery brigade, 82nd air defense brigade, 82nd special forces brigade, 82- I'm an Army Aviation Brigade, 82nd Engineer Brigade, 82nd Sustainment Brigade.

83rd Army(Xinxiang), like the 82nd Army, is considered the most powerful and technologically advanced, its formations and units are also maximally automated and computerized. It includes the 11th, 58th, 60th, 113th, 129th, 193rd combined arms brigades, 83rd special forces brigade, 83rd artillery brigade, 83rd air defense brigade, 161st I'm Air Assault Brigade, 83rd Engineer Brigade, 83rd Sustainment Brigade.

Units of district subordination- 112th mechanized division.

In addition, on the territory of the Beijing Military District there is the only airborne force association in the PLA - 15th Airborne Corps. It includes the 127th, 128th, 130th, 131st, 133rd and 134th Airborne Brigades, as well as special forces, support and aviation brigades. Operationally, the 15th Airborne Division is subordinate to the PLA Air Force.

Western Command(ground forces headquarters in Lanzhou) is focused on Central Asia, Mongolia, Russian Western Siberia and India. Includes two armies from the former Lanzhou and partially Chengdu military districts.

76th Army(Baoji) includes the 12th, 17th, 56th, 62nd, 149th, 182nd combined arms brigades, 76th artillery brigade, 76th air defense brigade, 76th special forces brigade , 76th Engineer Brigade, 76th Sustainment Brigade, 76th Army Aviation Brigade.

77th Army(Chongqing) includes the 39th, 40th, 55th, 139th, 150th, 181st combined arms brigades, 77th artillery, 77th air defense, 77th special forces, 77th yu engineering, 77th support and 77th army aviation brigades.

The size of China's army can be the envy of any modern sovereign state. According to official estimates, more than 2 million people are involved in the armed forces of the Celestial Empire. The Chinese themselves call their troops the People's Liberation Army of China. There is not a single example in the world of more numerous armed forces. Experts say that in recent years the number of Chinese soldiers has decreased due to a new military-political doctrine. According to it, the main focus in the PRC army is now placed not on the quantity of manpower, but on the quality of weapons and equipment of the troops.

History of the formation of the Chinese armed forces

Despite the fact that the domestic militarization of the PRC was first carried out in 1927, its history dates back much earlier. Scientists believe that in fact the army of Ancient China was formed approximately 4 thousand years ago. And there is evidence of this.

Development of Chinese troops in the second half of the twentieth century

Since the 50s, the Chinese army has been subjected to significant reductions several times. The most significant event that affected the number of active troops occurred in the 80s. At that time, the Chinese army was represented mainly by ground forces, that is, it was tailored for a possible military conflict with the Soviet Union.

After some time, relations between the countries stabilized. The Chinese, realizing that the threat of war from the north had passed, turned their attention to internal problems. Since 1990, the country's leadership has launched a large-scale program to improve the current model of the national army. China is still actively modernizing its navy, aviation, and missile forces.

Indicators of the PRC armed forces

Like a number of other states, Chinese legislation has introduced compulsory military service. However, the number of people seeking to join the ranks of the regular troops is so large that in the entire history of the existence of the PRC army (since 1949), the authorities have not carried out a formal conscription. For every Chinese, regardless of gender, it is a matter of honor to repay debt to the Motherland through military service. In addition, military craft is the only way for most Chinese peasants to feed their families. Soldiers are accepted into volunteer units of the Chinese army until they reach 49 years of age.

It is difficult for a person far from military affairs to imagine the true power of the military “machine” of the Celestial Empire. For a substantive understanding, let's look at the numbers:

Both men and women over 19 years of age have the right to join the ranks of various types of troops.
The size of the Chinese army, according to rough estimates of experts, is about 2.5 million people.
From year to year, more than $215 billion is allocated from the state budget for the maintenance of the armed forces.

The beautiful half of the Chinese troops

On the composition of the military forces of the People's Republic of China

land;
air force;
navy;
strategic nuclear forces;
special forces and other types of combat groups, in the absence of which it is impossible to imagine any army of a modern state.

Missile and ground forces

The strategic units of the PRC armed forces have access to 75 ground-based ballistic missile launchers and about 80 Hong-6 aircraft belonging to the strategic nuclear aviation forces as basic equipment. The command of the Chinese flotilla has at its disposal a nuclear submarine equipped with twelve launchers for launching Julan-1 missiles. Despite the fact that this type of weapon was developed more than 30 years ago, it is considered effective today.

As for the composition of the ground forces, in China this unit has the following resources:

2.5 million soldiers;
about 90 divisions, of which a fifth are tank and rapid reaction divisions.

Chinese Air Force and Navy

Military-political partnership

Despite the fact that the Celestial Empire continues to actively develop weapons, this country still lags behind the superpowers in the field of high-precision weapons. A considerable share of the funds allocated to ensure the defense capability of the state goes to the development of a new type of weapon. The country's leadership chose this course because, in its opinion, the future belongs to precision weapons.

In order to gradually reduce the gap with the world leader, the PRC decided to actively develop cooperation with the Russian Federation in the military-technical sphere. China owes much of its rapid development of its army to its partner. Thanks to Russia, which not only supplies the latest weapons, but also takes part in the development of military equipment on an equal basis with Chinese specialists, the PRC was able to take a decisive step forward.

Today, many joint Russian-Chinese projects are operating, various agreements have been concluded at the intergovernmental and interstate levels in the following areas:

joint military technological processes and development of new weapons;
studying technologies used both to destroy military targets and to protect civilians;
cooperation in the space field, which involves conducting numerous projects and developing programs;
strengthening relations in the communications sector.

The rapid development of partnership relations between Russia and China is of significant importance for the armies of both states. Increasing the pace of modernization processes of the armed forces of China is not welcomed by the United States, which fears the potential emergence of a direct competitor. At the same time, the number of concluded cooperation agreements between Russia and China has increased significantly over the past few years. The most significant achievements in the sphere of relations between these two countries are worth noting the acquisition of SU-27 fighters, as well as permission for their production in China, and the consent of the Russian side to carry out repair work on Chinese submarines on its territory.

Main priorities in the field of defense construction

long-range detection and communications;
remote control of weapons and troops;
electronic warfare.

Chinese military funding

Does China want world domination?

The PRC strives to become the most significant military force in the Asia-Pacific region, so the republic began to invest heavily in the army as soon as Russia and the United States reduced the number of warships in this area.
The purchase of modern weapons from Russia provokes an arms race. Allegedly, this is considered one of the real reasons why the DPRK (North Korea) decided to acquire nuclear warheads.
The modernization of Chinese troops is carried out only in order to strike a blow at the United States.

These accusations are refuted by military experts from the Middle Kingdom. China is not striving for world domination, and the rapid growth of economic indicators would be more correct to perceive as a common business practice that strives to expand and increase profits.

The process of modernizing the army itself, according to the PRC authorities, lies a heavy burden on the shoulders of the state economy. However, China does not have the right to refuse to improve its armed forces, since the country’s army is currently vulnerable to the stronger troops of other powers.

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