PLA Ground Forces
Tactical Impressions of the PLA
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Tactical Impressions of the People's Liberation Army
by LCol (Ret'd) W Yu
Introduction
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has gone through major modernization programs in recent years, both in technique and technology. However, this is a selective process that only a few units receive the latest and the greatest while the vast majority of the military remained obsolescent. Historically and culturally, the PLA tends to concentrate on the big picture rather than on the details which brings into question the relative effectiveness of these specialized units.
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| Photo from the PLA Daily. Such specialized troops are the exception, not the norm for the PLA due to lack of resources. |
This author does not even pretend to have any access to the PLA's combat requirements or evaluations. However, based upon publicly available media, certain impressions have occurred. This is an attempt to put those impressions into a coherent picture.
The PLA has never been, nor is it now, a modern army. Despite her proud history, her actual performances do not stand up well under close scrutiny. The PLA has experienced some brilliant strategic moves in Korea and to some extent, Vietnam. Yet, the actual battles themselves reveal major weaknesses that never seemed to be addressed, even in subsequent wars.
The PLA's major weakness can be summed up as good generals and tenacious infantrymen but nothing in between. So, how is this force expected to fight? While no PLA Field Manual is available for careful analysis (at least not company level and above), there are enough hints form the public media, similar formations, and historical actions to form a conjecture.
