People's Liberation Army Special Operations Forces

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In the People's Republic of China, the special operations forces of the People's Liberation Army (PLA SOF) 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.Template:Sfn

Each theater command controls their own SOF units. The units rely on external support to conduct missions.Template:Sfn Most ground SOF are organized like conventional light infantry units.Template:Sfn In 2022, many units were recently converted from conventional forces and likely had capabilities closer to shock troops than special forces.Template:Sfn

In 2022, the PLA SOF consisted of 15 Ground Force (PLAGF) brigades, one Marine Corps (PLANMC) brigade, one Airborne Corps (PLAAFAC) brigade, and the Rocket Force (PLARF) Reconnaissance Regiment.Template:Sfn

History

The first Army SOF units were created in the 1990s.Template:Sfn At the end of the 1990s, each Military Region had an Army SOF or a special reconnaissance force of approximately 1,000 personnel.[1]Template:Rp

Navy special forces deployed with the first Chinese anti-piracy naval patrol off Somalia on 26 December 2008.[2]

After 2013, the PLA placed increased emphasis on expanding its SOF.[1]Template:Rp

By 2022, PLA SOF had been expanded by converting conventional forces.Template:Sfn

Organization

File:140716-G-HN254-571 (14714332244).jpg
Marine special forces in 2016.

The PLA SOF is divided into 2000-3000 personnel brigades or 1000-2000 personnel regiments.Template:Sfn Brigades are internally organized like conventional PLAGF brigades with the "brigade-battalion-company-team" hierarchy,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn which delegate less authority to team commanders. Conventional "centralized", rather than "task oriented", command style is used.Template:Sfn

China does not have a national-level command for SOF (like the USA's SOCOM). Theater Commands control their own SOF units.Template:Sfn Each group army contains a SOF brigade.Template:Sfn Units have discrete missions depending on their location and branch.Template:Sfn

Each of the SOF brigades has a semi-formal cognomen as well as a number (which is usually identical to the group army they are subordinated to). The special Xinjiang and Tibet military districts also have their own brigades. The Navy, the Air Force, and the Rocket Force all deploy their own units.

Training

In 2014, the 82nd Special Forces Brigade acceptance criteria included passing a track and field exercises. Members received combat, mobility, infiltration and reconnaissance training.[24]

The training of the 85th Special Force Brigade includes carrying 25 kg weights from an altitude of 3700 meters up to an altitude of 5300 meters along with completion of 6 events in 12 hours.[26]

The selection course for the PLARF Special Forces Unit consists of:[31]

  • Running 5 km under 25 minutes while carrying 20 kg of weight
  • Crossing a shaky bridge
  • Crossing a 20 meters tunnel which has a diameter of 50 cm
  • Lifting a tire 60 times and crossing a balance beam
  • Crawling under a 25 meter long, 30 CM tall barbed wire net
  • Resistance to interrogation training

Capabilities

SOF receive priority for quality personnelTemplate:Sfn and new equipment.Template:Sfn

All SOC units are airborne and air assault capable.Template:Sfn

SOF has limited organic dedicated infrastructure of support.Template:Sfn It relies on theater logisticsTemplate:Sfn and external resources to carry out missions. The PLAAFAC provides all SOF units with tactical insertion, extraction, and resupply.Template:Sfn SOF operations in the enemy rear are restricted by the limited ability of conventional forces to support them. SOF and conventional brigades suffer similar problems with command and control, including communications inside SOF brigades and between SOF and conventional units.Template:Sfn

According to Chen and Wuthnow in 2022, the command structure and mission of most PLA SOF brigades resembled the United States Army Rangers rather than Delta Force.Template:Sfn

Inter-service SOF training is rare, the most common being PLAGF SOF with PLAAF aircraft.Template:Sfn

Awards

  • Antropoid 2009: the Jinan Military Region SOF group (Now the 80th Special Forces Brigade)[21] won eight first places and six second places in 13 events.[32]
  • In the 2013 "Blade Sharpening" (砺刃—2013) military competition, which was the first ever PLASOF inter-unit competition, the 79th Special Forces Brigade won first place.[33]
  • Golden Owl 2015: the "Thunder Gods" airborne SOF wins first place.[34][35]
  • 2015 International Army Games: the "Thunder Gods" airborne SOF wins the "Airborne Platoon" competition.[36]

See also

Notes

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References

Citations

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Sources

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Template:People's Liberation Army Template:Structure of People's Liberation Army Ground Force since 2017Template:Chinese Special Operations Forces

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