Special Operations Brigade (PLA Navy Marine Corps)

Last updated

Naval Special Operations Battalion(2002-2017)
Special Operations or 7th Brigade
海军特种作战大队(2002-2017)
海军陆战队第七旅(After 2017)
Jiaolong Commando Unit.png
Insignia of the 7th Marine Brigade
Active2017-present (as brigade)
Country People's Republic of China
Branch People's Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps
People's Liberation Army Special Operations Forces
Type Special Operations Forces
Marines
Role Special Operations
Amphibious reconnaissance
Sabotage
Combat diving
Anti-Piracy
Hostage Rescue
Garrison/HQ Yulin Naval Base, Sanya
Nickname(s)"Jiaolong Commandos"
Mascot(s) Jiaolong
Engagements Anti-Piracy Operations in the Gulf of Aden
Evacuation of Chinese nationals from Yemen

The 7th Marine Brigade or Special Operations Brigade [1] is a special operations unit in the People's Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps of People's Republic of China (Mainland or Communist China). Reliable sources disagree as to whether the brigade has a number or is designated "Special Operations." It is commonly known as the "Jiaolong Commandos." It is based in Sanya, Hainan Island. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Contents

"Jiaolong" refers to a variant of dragon in Chinese folklore, and is often rendered in the case of this unit, in English, as "Sea Dragon."

History

The unit was founded as the Naval Special Operations Battalion [6] [5] in 2002. [7]

On 26 December 2008, 70 soldiers from the unit were deployed to Somalia, where they conducted anti-piracy operations. [8]

In 2015, Jiaolong commandos participated in the evacuation of 571 Chinese citizens and over 200 other foreign nationals from Yemen after a Saudi-led coalition began airstrikes against the Houthi rebel group (Yemen Civil War). In April 2017 the Tuvalu-registered cargo ship OS35 was hijacked by Somali pirates in the waters of the Gulf of Aden. At the time, the PLA Navy's Yulin, a Type 054A Frigate in China’s South Sea Fleet was participating in anti-piracy patrols. [9] Sixteen PLA Navy Special Forces, led by a special forces platoon leader, boarded the ship and rescued the crew.

On 5 May 2017, three pirates were captured by the unit's personnel and handed over to the Somali Police Force. [10] [11] [12]

Personnel of the 7th Marine Brigade boarding a ship during the United States Pacific Fleet Exercise RIMPAC 140716-G-HN254-571 (14714332244).jpg
Personnel of the 7th Marine Brigade boarding a ship during the United States Pacific Fleet Exercise RIMPAC

The Naval Special Operations Battalion was renamed to the 7th Marine Brigade in 2017. [6] [5]

Missions

The brigade is used for Visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) [7] , anti-piracy, air assault [13] [7] , direct action, combat diving [3] [4] , sabotage [7] and amphibious reconnaissance [7] .

Operation Red Sea (2018) is loosely based off the unit's involvement in the evacuation of Chinese and foreign nationals in the Yemeni Civil War and also depicts the unit. [2] [14]

Equipment

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's Liberation Army Navy</span> Maritime service branch of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army

The People's Liberation Army Navy, also known as the People's Navy, PLA Navy or simply Chinese Navy, is the naval warfare branch of the People's Liberation Army, the national military of the People's Republic of China. It is composed of five sub-branches: the Surface Force, the Submarine Force, the Coastal Defense Force, the Marine Corps and the Naval Air Force, with a total strength of 350,000 personnel, including 70,000 marines and 30,000 naval aviation personnel. The PLAN's combat units are deployed among three theater command fleets, namely the North Sea, East Sea and South Sea Fleet, which serve the Northern, Eastern and Southern Theater Command, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's Armed Police</span> Chinese paramilitary organization

The People's Armed Police Force is a Chinese paramilitary organization primarily responsible for internal security, riot control, counter-terrorism, disaster response, law enforcement and maritime rights protection as well as providing support to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) during wartime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps</span> Marine force of the Peoples Republic of China

The People's Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps (PLANMC), also known as the People's Liberation Army Marine Corps (PLAMC), is the maritime land 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. It currently consists of six combined arms brigades; the Special Operations Brigade; and an aviation brigade, for a total of 40,000 personnel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marines</span> Military organization specialized in amphibious warfare

Marines are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included raiding ashore and the boarding of vessels during ship-to-ship combat or capture of prize ships. Marines also assisted in maintaining security, discipline, and order aboard ships. While maintaining many of their historical roles, in modern times, marines also engage in duties including rapid-response operations, humanitarian aid, disaster relief, special operations roles, and counter-terrorism operations. In most nations, marines are an integral part of that state's navy, such as the United Kingdom's Royal Marines; in some countries their marine forces can also instead be part of the land army, such as the French Troupes de Marine; or, more uncommonly, a nation’s marine forces may be an independent military branch such as the United States Marine Corps or the Ukrainian Marine Corps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MARCOS</span> Indian Navy special operations force

The Marine Commando Force (MCF), abbreviated to MARCOS, are the special forces of the Indian Navy. The MARCOS were originally named Indian Marine Special Force, which was later changed to Marine Commando Force to impart "an element of individuality" to it, according to the Indian Navy. The abbreviation 'MARCOS' was coined afterwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Sea Fleet</span> Chinese naval fleet

The Southern Theater Command Navy (STCN), or the South Sea Fleet (SSF) until 2018, is a formation of China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and the naval component of the Southern Theater Command.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's Liberation Army Special Operations Forces</span> Special Operations Forces of China

In the People's Republic of China, the special operations forces of the People's Liberation Army are units that conduct direct action and reconnaissance, including in enemy rear areas, to prepare the advance of friendly forces; they also perform counter-terrorism operations, although that mission is formally assigned to People's Armed Police. PLA SOF does not control, but may support, psychological warfare operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snow Leopard Commando Unit</span> Chinese elite police tactical unit

The Snow Leopard Commando Unit, formerly known as the Snow Wolf Commando Unit, is a People's Armed Police (PAP) tactical unit in the People's Republic of China. Its tasks include counterterrorism, hostage rescue, riot control, serving high-risk arrest and search warrants, anti-hijacking, anti-WMD terrorism, bomb disposal, counterinsurgency, crowd control, law enforcement tactics against crime, VBSS, and VIP protection. The SLCU, along with Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau's SWAT unit, was tasked with many of the security responsibilities of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Piracy off the coast of Somalia occurs in the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel, and Somali Sea, in Somali territorial waters and other surrounding places and has a long troubled history with different perspectives from different communities. It was initially a threat to international fishing vessels during the early 2000s, only to rapidly escalate and expand to international shipping during the War in Somalia (2006–2009).

<i>Jiaolong</i> (submersible) Chinese crewed deep-sea research submersible

Jiaolong is a Chinese crewed deep-sea research submersible that can dive to a depth of over 7,000 metres (23,000 ft), developed from the Sea Pole-class bathyscaphe. It has the second-greatest depth range of any crewed research vehicle of the Chinese Navy; the only crewed expeditions to have gone deeper were the dives of the Trieste bathyscaphe in 1960, Archimède in 1962, Deepsea Challenger in 2012, and DSV Limiting Factor in 2019.

<i>Operation Red Sea</i> 2018 Chinese action war film

Operation Red Sea is a 2018 Chinese-Hong Kong action war film directed by Dante Lam and starring Zhang Yi, Huang Jingyu, Hai Qing, Du Jiang and Jiang Luxia. The film is loosely based on the evacuation of foreign nationals and almost 600 Chinese citizens from Yemen's southern port of Aden during late March in 2015 Yemeni Civil War. According to Chinaculture.org, the film is in similar style to that of Operation Mekong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zhang Wendan</span>

Zhang Wendan is a retired vice admiral of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy. He served as Chief of Staff of the PLA Navy from January 2018 to December 2019, and previously served as Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the South Sea Fleet, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Southern Theater Command, and Commander of the North Sea Fleet (2017–2018). He commanded the PLA Navy's fifth Gulf of Aden anti-piracy task force in 2010.

The Type 11, designated as QTS-11, is an air burst grenade launcher integrated with the QBZ-03 assault rifle in service of Chinese military since 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China</span> 2019 celebrations in China

The 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China was observed with a series of ceremonial events including a grand military parade as its spotlight to celebrate National Day of the People's Republic of China that took place on 1 October 2019 in Beijing. It was the largest military parade and mass pageant in Chinese history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">50th anniversary of the People's Republic of China</span> Military parade and event in China

The 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China took place on 1 October 1999. A military parade was held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and various celebrations were conducted all over the country. China's paramount leader Jiang Zemin inspected the troops along Chang'an Avenue in Beijing. This parade was immediately followed by a civilian parade.

The Mountain Eagle Commando Unit is a police tactical unit of the People's Armed Police based in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. The unit was publicly shown to the media on 20 August 2019. Its name is derived from its designated operational areas, consisting of mountains and plateaus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">QBZ-191</span> Chinese assault rifle

The QBZ-191 Automatic Rifle is a Chinese assault rifle chambered for the 5.8×42mm intermediate cartridge, designed and manufactured by Chongqing Jianshe as a new-generation service rifle for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and People's Armed Police (PAP). The rifle's designation "QBZ" stands for "light weapon – rifle (Bùqiāng) – automatic (Zìdòng)".

References

  1. ↑ Kennedy 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "The Jiaolong Commandos". PRC Ministry of Defense. 15 April 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Newdick, Thomas (10 August 2020). "Watch Chinese [PRC] Frogmen Fire Their Special Underwater Guns". The War Zone. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Makichuk, Dave (11 August 2020). "Video reveals weaponry of China's [PRC] elite 'Sea Dragons'". Asia Times. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 "百度安全验证".
  6. 1 2 https://navy.mnd.gov.tw/Files/Policy/5-%E4%B8%AD%E5%85%B1%E8%BB%8D%E6%94%B9%E5%BE%8C%E6%B5%B7%E8%BB%8D%E9%99%B8%E6%88%B0%E9%9A%8A.pdf, Archived 5/11/2020
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "走进"蛟龙突击队"，感受海军特战尖兵的血性与忠诚 - 中华人民共和国国防部". www.mod.gov.cn. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  8. 1 2 "揭秘中国海军陆战队"蛟龙突击队" 队员均具四栖作战和海上反恐能力_新闻_央视网(cctv.com)". m.news.cctv.com. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  9. ↑ Wood 2018.
  10. ↑ "中国海军"蛟龙"突击队武装押解海盗". v.cctv.com. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  11. ↑ CGTN Africa (7 May 2017). Chinese navy hands over suspected pirates to Somali authorities . Retrieved 29 November 2024– via YouTube.
  12. ↑ "China's Somali pirate-catching commando gets a hero's welcome". South China Morning Post. 18 February 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  13. ↑ "Marine corps' commandos in parachuting training at sea - Focus - 中国军网（英文版）". eng.chinamil.com.cn. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  14. 1 2 Trevithick, Joseph (2 August 2024). "Chinese [PRC] Sea Dragon Commandos Show Off Drones That Look Just Like Birds". The War Zone. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  15. ↑ Loh, Matthew. "China's naval commandos rode electric skateboards into a combat exercise with drones disguised as birds, then left in a pickup truck". Business Insider. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.