People's Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps | |
---|---|
中国人民解放军海军陆战队 Zhōngguó Rénmín Jiěfàngjūn Hǎijūnlùzhànduì | |
Founded | April 1953 |
Country | People's Republic of China |
Allegiance | Chinese Communist Party |
Branch | People's Liberation Army Navy |
Type | Naval infantry |
Role | Amphibious warfare VBSS |
Size | 40,000 personnel [1] |
Part of | People's Liberation Army |
Garrison/HQ | Chaozhou, Guangdong |
Motto(s) | 陆地猛虎,海上蛟龙 (English: "Fierce Tiger of the land, Jiaolong of the sea") [2] [3] [4] |
Colors | White Blue |
Engagements |
The People's Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps (PLANMC), also known as the People's Liberation Army Marine Corps (PLAMC), is the marine force of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and one of five major branches of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) responsible for amphibious warfare, expeditionary operations and rapid responses. [5] It currently consists of seven 6,000-man combined armed brigades and four other supporting brigades including aviation, engineering & chemical defense, artillery and service-support brigades for a total of 40,000. The marine corps also includes a brigade-level special operations unit called the "Jiaolong Commando Unit" (Chinese :蛟龙突击队) [6] [4] , officially known as the 7th Marine Brigade .
The present PLANMC was originally established in April 1953 [7] to conduct amphibious operations against islands held by the Republic of China (Taiwan). By the end of the Korean War, the PLANMC numbered 110,000 personnel organized in eight divisions. However, the organization was disbanded in October 1957 when the leadership of China abandoned any plans to seize the island of Taiwan. Following the disbanding of the Marine Corps, the PLAN did maintain a naval infantry force, which consisted of several infantry and amphibious tank regiments.
In 1979 the Central Military Commission (CMC) re-established the Marine Corps and organized it under the PLAN. On 5 May 1980, the 1st Marine Brigade was activated on Hainan.
The PLANMC was expanded in the 1990s because of the growing tensions between China and Taiwan. The 1st Marine Brigade was reinforced and rearmed. In July 1998, the 164th Motorized Infantry Division of the PLA Ground Force's (PLAGF) 41st Group Army had been transferred to the PLAN South Sea Fleet and became the 164th Marine Brigade, with its homebase in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province. In February 2017, it was reported that the 77th Motorized Infantry Brigade of the 26th Group Army was transferred to the PLAN.
The PLANMC participated in multiple international exercises, including participation in RIMPAC, and engaged with United States Marine Corps in mutual training and friendly cultural exchanges during the Bush and Obama administrations as part of its "tranquility and good order" policy according to its navy chief. [8] However, with the Trump administration the PLAN and PLANMC were dis-invited from the 2018 Rim of the Pacific and the US Marines are trained to fight against the PLANMC. [9] [10] [11]
The PLANMC is subordinate to Navy Headquarters, the Joint Staff Department and the CMC.
18,000 marines are under the Southern Theater Command, with 6,000 being under Eastern Theater Command and 12,000 being under Northern Theater Command. [6] These brigades possess combined arms units, including armor, artillery, missile, air defense, and logistics.
The Seven brigades are as follows:
There is additionally a marine corps aviation unit known as the Marine Separate Aviation Brigade [12] stationed in Mingguang, Chuzhou, Anhui. It was founded in 2017.
Each Marine Brigade is organized into the following elements: [6]
The PLA has additional amphibious assault capabilities in the PLAGF amphibious combined-arms brigades. [13]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(December 2021) |
Chinese marines use the QBZ-95 as their main armament, though this is set to change as the PLA is set to replace the QBZ-95 with the QBZ-191 as its standard service rifle. [14] The Type 07 Oceanic Camouflage used by the marines is likewise scheduled to be replaced by the Xingkong camouflage pattern. [15] The marines also make use of GPS and night vision systems to enhance their fighting capabilities.
The PLAN marines are equipped with amphibious light tanks and armored personnel carriers. The Type 63A is the newest light tank in Chinese service. It is based on the hull of the older Type 63 (which in turn is based on the Soviet PT76 amphibious light tank). The Type 63A features a number of improvements, in particular the new welded turret which features much greater armor protection and the 105mm main gun (capable of firing standard NATO projectiles as well as the gun launched anti-tank missile). The marines are believed to have continued operating the Type 63 and the non-amphibious Type 62 light tanks as secondary units. The Type 77 amphibious APC was the standard armored transport for the marines for many decades. However, new designs have been adapted from the army to complement these aging transports. These include specially modified versions of the Type 89 and Type 63 APCs, with enhanced swimming capabilities. The Type 86 (or WZ501) IFV is also in service with the marines. Based on the Soviet BMP-1, it is armed with a single 73mm main gun and mounts an HJ73 ATGM (with max range of 3000 meters).
For air defense, Chinese marines employ a mix of automatic and manually operated anti-aircraft artillery systems, as well as short range surface-to-air missiles. The marines have been seen operating the new Type 95 self-propelled air defense platform on an amphibious hull similar to the Type 77 APC. This platform is armed with four 25mm cannon with a short ranged SAM combination to achieve effective killing capabilities against low flying targets at short ranges. The Type 89 self-propelled 122mm gun is the first SP artillery system in service with the marines since 1999. This adds additional accurate firepower to the PLAMC.
An infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also known as a mechanized infantry combat vehicle (MICV), is a type of armoured fighting vehicle used to carry infantry into battle and provide direct-fire support. The 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe defines an infantry fighting vehicle as "an armoured combat vehicle which is designed and equipped primarily to transport a combat infantry squad, and which is armed with an integral or organic cannon of at least 20 millimeters calibre and sometimes an antitank missile launcher". IFVs often serve both as the principal weapons system and as the mode of transport for a mechanized infantry unit.
Mechanized infantry are infantry units equipped with armored personnel carriers (APCs) or infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for transport and combat.
A division is a large military unit or formation, usually consisting of between 10,000 to 25,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically make up a corps.
The Russian Naval Infantry, often referred to as Russian Marines in the West, operate as the naval infantry of the Russian Navy. Established in 1705, they are capable of conducting amphibious operations as well as operating as more traditional light infantry.
The People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF), also referred to as the PLA Army, is the land-based service branch of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and also its largest and oldest branch. The PLAGF can trace its lineage from 1927 as the Chinese Red Army; however, it was not officially established until 1948.
The Republic of China Army (ROCA), also known as the ROC Army or Chinese Army and unofficially as the Taiwanese Army, is the largest branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces. An estimated 80% of the ROC Army is located on Taiwan, while the remainder are stationed on the Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, Dongsha and Taiping Islands.
The WZ-551 is a Chinese wheeled infantry fighting vehicle family. The name WZ-551 actually covers two families of vehicles with the official designations in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) – Type 90 and Type 92. Over 3,000 WZ-551s are in service with the PLA, where they are used by medium mechanized infantry units.
List of abbreviations, acronyms and initials related to military subjects such as modern armour, artillery, infantry, and weapons, along with their definitions.
The Ukrainian Marine Corps, also known simply as the Ukrainian Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 2023, responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations. From its modern foundation in 1993 up to 2023 it constituted part of the Coastal Forces of the Ukrainian Navy. It is used as a component part of amphibious, airborne and amphibious-airborne operations, alone or in coordination with formations and units of the Ground Forces in order to capture parts of the seashore, islands, ports, fleet bases, coast airfields and other coast objects from the enemy. It can also be used to defend naval bases, vital shoreline areas, separate islands and coast objects, and security of hostile areas.
The Norinco Type 89 tracked armoured fighting vehicle is a Chinese armoured personnel carrier. It was developed from the earlier export market Type 85 AFV vehicle. It entered service in the late 1990s and was first shown publicly in 1999. There are approximately 1,000 in service. It has the industrial index of WZ534 and although it was mainly developed for the PLA, there is also an export version YW534.
Mechanized Infantry Forces of Ukraine are the general basis and primary combat formations of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. They execute tasks of holding the occupied areas, lines and positions tasks of enemy's impacts repelling, of penetrating the enemy's defense lines, defeating the enemy forces, capturing the important areas, lines and objectives, Capture and expel enemy forces from territory and can operate in structure of marine and landing troops.
The Yugoslav Ground Forces was the ground forces branch of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) from 1 March 1945 until 20 May 1992 when the last remaining remnants were merged into the Ground Forces of the new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, under the threat of sanctions.
The Type 05 amphibious armored vehicle is a family of amphibious tracked armored fighting vehicles developed by Norinco for the People's Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps, consisting of two main combat variants — the ZBD-05 infantry fighting vehicle and the ZTD-05 assault vehicle, as well as several support variants based on the ZBD-05. The Type 05s could be launched at sea from an amphibious assault ship over the horizon, and features a hydroplane, a design concept that has been compared to the cancelled United States Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) program.
The Soviet BMP-1 is a tracked, amphibious infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) with a long service history.
The Type 08 is a Chinese family of modern eight-wheeled, amphibious, modular armored vehicles developed by Norinco for infantry fire support, battlefield logistics, and quick reaction operations. Developed in the early 2000s, the vehicle family were produced for more than 6,000 hulls and widely deployed by the People's Liberation Army Ground Force and People's Liberation Army Marine Corps.
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The 2nd Heavy Combined Arms Brigade, originally the 2nd Tank Division, the 2nd Armored Division and the 2nd Armored Brigade, is an armored formation of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force of the People's Republic of China.
The 145th Division was created in November 1948 under the Regulation of the Redesignations of All Organizations and Units of the Army, issued by Central Military Commission on November 1, 1948, basing on the 34th Division, 12th Column of the PLA Northeastern Field Army. Its history can be traced to Eastern Harbin Security Command, formed in September 1945.
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