• IP addresses are NOT logged in this forum so there's no point asking. Please note that this forum is full of homophobes, racists, lunatics, schizophrenics & absolute nut jobs with a smattering of geniuses, Chinese chauvinists, Moderate Muslims and last but not least a couple of "know-it-alls" constantly sprouting their dubious wisdom. If you believe that content generated by unsavory characters might cause you offense PLEASE LEAVE NOW! Sammyboy Admin and Staff are not responsible for your hurt feelings should you choose to read any of the content here.

    The OTHER forum is HERE so please stop asking.

China to drastically overhaul its People’s Liberation Army

Howitzer

Alfrescian
Loyal

China to drastically overhaul its People’s Liberation Army in 'ambitious' plan to build modern fighting force on par with West


President may use boost from Beijing parade to unveil revamp which would cut personnel and put army, navy and air force on equal footings

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 01 September, 2015, 11:34pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 02 September, 2015, 12:24pm

Minnie Chan
[email protected]

xijinping-sanya-net.jpg


President Xi Jinping meets navy personnel in Sanya. PLA reform will boost the navy's role relative to the army's. Photo: Xinhua

China is close to unveiling a drastic plan to transform the world's largest army into a nimble, modern force on par with the best of the West.

President Xi Jinping, who is also the supreme commander of the People's Liberation Army, might ride the heightened morale following the grand military parade in Beijing on Thursday to announce the plan, sources and experts said.

The parade is being held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of the second world war.

"Many people in the PLA expect to see some major announcements after the parade," Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie said. "Parades like this boost morale and patriotism. It will provide Xi a good opportunity to announce his ambitious plans on how to transform the PLA into a real modern army capable of winning wars."

For years, China's military leaders have been in intense discussions on how to change its Soviet-era organisational structure to a system adaptable enough to meet the ever-changing demands of modern warfare. The new structure will bring in more supervision and control to prevent corruption, which has demoralised the army and debilitated its fighting capability.

In fact, sources said Xi had deliberately weeded out the corrupt elements in the military before rolling out the reform plan, which the president hopes will fundamentally rejuvenate the PLA. Two former vice-chairmen of the Central Military Commission - Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiong - have been brought down on corruption charges over the past two years.

With them and their henchmen removed, Xi is now ready to implement his plan.

There are competing proposals on how to reform the PLA and it would take years to fully implement these recommendations. But the top leaders had reached a consensus on the general direction, sources said. In principle, the overall size of the PLA will be reduced with more emphasis on the navy and the air force. The traditional army-dominated structure will be changed to the Western model, in which the land, air and naval forces enjoy equal footing.

Among several proposals floated to the leadership, a "liberal" one calls for a total overhaul of the PLA command structure. It is not clear which proposal Xi has chosen. He might take some parts from each.

According to the proposal written by liberal military thinkers and obtained by the South China Morning Post - the overall size of the PLA and armed police would be cut from three million troops to two million. The seven military commands would be regrouped into four strategic zones. The ranks of the local commanders would be downgraded to cut their political influence.

Military experts who read the proposal described it as "the most radical and aggressive reform" in modern China's history.

"Among the top generals in the Central Military Commission, eight are from the army while just two are from the air force and the navy," a Shanghai-based retired senior colonel said. "This is the result of the traditional army-biased system. Almost all the opportunities for advancement are in the hands of the [seven] military commands."

The liberal proposal also calls for strengthening the power of the Ministry of National Defence - which at present is more like a figurehead. The department of politics, which oversees ideology and promotions, and the departments of logistics and armaments would be merged into the ministry. The People's Armed Police would be renamed the National Guard and focus on anti-terrorism, disaster relief and domestic security.

"It's a feasible proposal but it is very aggressive and will be challenging for the PLA to implement," a source close to the Guangzhou Military Command said.


 

Howitzer

Alfrescian
Loyal

INFOGRAPHIC: How China will rebuild its People's Liberation Army

China is considering various proposals to overhaul the world’s biggest army, transforming it from a Soviet-era force into a Western-style power. Under one plan, the navy and the air force will have the same status as the army, and a national guard will replace the People’s Armed Police. Here, we look at that plan.

infographic-0902.png



 

Howitzer

Alfrescian
Loyal

PLA overhaul could ‘destabilise’ Chinese society: Military officials fire warning shots over pay and pensions


Article in PLA mouthpiece warns of risks with restructuring plans, but is later deleted from its website

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 19 November, 2015, 4:49pm
UPDATED : Friday, 20 November, 2015, 12:44am

Jun Mai
[email protected]

cb50a79e-8e96-11e5-8afa-edea3e14aa04_1280x720.jpg


Chinese President Xi Jinping (right), who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, revealed plans to reform the military last September. Photo: Xinhua

Two People’s Liberation Army officials at the mainland’s top military academy have warned Beijing it could destabilise the armed services and society if it goes ahead with plans to restructure and slash the size of the country’s military without addressing salaries and pensions.

“The reform will surely involve structural and personnel adjustments and touch on the interests of numerous fellow soldiers,” Sun Kejia and Han Xiao said in an article published on Thursday in the People’s Liberation Army’s mouthpiece, the PLA Daily.

Reform needed support from the country and society, but if it was not handled properly it could threaten not only the stability of the military but also society, they said.

Sun and Han are researchers at the PLA National Defence University’s department of strategic education and research. Sun is deputy director of its military ideology and history office.

Many nations had failed to carry out military reforms successfully because they had not properly budgeted for staff pensions and salaries, they said. Sun and Han added that reform of the US armed forces in the 1970s had gone smoothly because military pensions and salaries had improved.

The open expression of their concerns is unusual.

Most military figures to have publicly commented on the expected shake up so far have stuck to demonstrations of political loyalty.

The article was deleted from the newspaper’s website, but remained on the website of the Ministry of National Defence.

During a parade in September to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the second world war, President Xi Jinping revealed he planned to cut the size of nation’s military by 300,000 personnel – twice the size of the British army. The South China Morning Post reported that the cut would see 170,000 military officials lose their jobs.

Since then, numerous military officers have expressed their support of the plans in various state-run newspapers.

Reports have repeatedly stressed that all PLA officers support the plans, regardless of exactly who is laid off.

“It’s really hard to settle the laid-off personnel and give them equivalent salaries. And it’s natural for them to have hard feelings,” said Shanghai-based military expert Ni Lexiong  .

Many in the army – the main target of the cuts – believe its role was being sidelined as the navy and air force were elevated, Ni added.

More than half of the cuts would target officials, and de-mobilisation, and re-employment for them would not be easy, said Hong Kong-based military expert Liang Guoliang.

“The fact that the PLA Daily brought this up means it’s a problem big enough to effect the reform as a whole,” he said.



 

Leongsam

High Order Twit / Low SES subject
Admin
Asset
Who is the army liberating and what are they being liberated from?
 

Howitzer

Alfrescian
Loyal

China vows military reform by 2020, with plans for new anti-corruption watchdog in PLA


PUBLISHED : Thursday, 26 November, 2015, 6:30pm
UPDATED : Friday, 27 November, 2015, 2:49am

Minnie Chan
[email protected]

pla-breakthrough.jpg
">

China announced guidelines for reforming the People’s Liberation Army as top brass wrapped up a three-day meeting in Beijing on Thursday.

President Xi Jinping vowed a “breakthrough” in the overhaul by 2020, according to a statement from the Central Military Commission, which Xi chairs, on the website of the PLA Daily.

The overhaul is aimed at moving away from an army-centric system towards a Western-style joint command in which the army, navy and air force are equally represented.

The CMC statement highlighted the general direction of the overhaul, including plans to reorganise the four headquarters – General Staff, General Political, General Logistics and General 8Armaments – and to consolidate the seven military command regions.

A disciplinary commission would be created within the CMC to tackle corruption, the statement said, adding that inspectors would be sent to every level of the military to ensure strict discipline.

Key areas of the long-anticipated military reform include:

  • Reorganising the military headquarters
  • Rezoning the seven military commands
  • Setting up new strategic zones and joint operation command systems
  • Strengthening the Central Military Commission command structure
  • Imposing strict discipline on the army
  • Pushing for more innovation
  • Reforming personnel management system
  • Pushing for integration between the building of national defence and economic development

The South China Morning Post reported in September that an overhaul of the PLA would phase out its Soviet-style command structures in favour of a US-style model.

The seven military command regions are likely to be consolidated into four to help transform the world’s biggest army into a nimble, modern force.

Xi said on September 3 the PLA would shed 300,000 troops, leaving it with two million personnel. The Post reported that month that 170,000 officials would be among the cuts.

There have been signs of resistance within the military, with some senior officials warning in military newspapers the overhaul could destabilise the armed services and society.

Macau-based military observer Antony Wong Dong said the guidelines indicated Xi’s determination to use the overhaul to achieve his political aims.

“Xi has kicked off the overhaul at the right time as he had spent more than two years sweeping away key opponents in the army, and now he is able to use the reform as a tool to root out other political opponents,” Wong said, referring to former top brass such as Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou who were implicated in Xi’s anti-graft drive.

“Xi had referred to the US military model, which is so far the strongest one in the world, to try to turn the PLA into a modern army, but his goal is to further control the army and consolidate his power and the Communist Party’s control of the gun.”

In the CMC statement, Xi urged the PLA to maintain “correct political direction”, and said the party had absolute leadership of the armed forces.

The Central Military Commission should be empowered to have supreme authority over both administration and command of the PLA, he said.

Shanghai-based naval expert Ni Lexiong said Xi had no time to wait because the United States was challenging China’s territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea by sending its warships near to Beijing’s artificial islands. “Xi was pushed into introducing the military overhaul so urgently because of [American] provocation in the South China Sea,” he said.

The CMC said it would encourage cooperation between civil and military bodies, and open the defence industry to the private sector.



 

PretenderSam

Alfrescian
Loyal
Who is the army liberating and what are they being liberated from?

:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
during the time when pLA was formed
it was liberating the scholars , the rich , the business men.

they are being liberated from their wealth , their ways of thinking ,
their self respect , their life styles.

since then
the name PLa has been used till now.
 

syed putra

Alfrescian
Loyal
This chinese nazi Xi jinping threatening its neighbours and seizing territories. and getting rid of his opponents in china by charging them with corruption and other nonsense. we are really looking at the next dictator. even if he steps down, he will rule by proxy, like putin.
I think the period if docile and constructive china has past. This guy is bent on glory whatever the price maybe.
 

PretenderSam

Alfrescian
Loyal
This chinese nazi Xi jinping threatening its neighbours and seizing territories. and getting rid of his opponents in china by charging them with corruption and other nonsense. we are really looking at the next dictator. even if he steps down, he will rule by proxy, like putin.
I think the period if docile and constructive china has past. This guy is bent on glory whatever the price maybe.

angmo the bestest

the british , the spanish , the american , etc
had done that in the 15th , 16 , 17 century

no western countries made any noise
when hundreds of thousand of natives were slaughtered
their nature resources looted

after they have made themselves rich
they enacted laws to protect themselves.

now china built a structure in an uninhabited island
and every countries are objecting and challenging its action
using current laws that were put in place by the crooks themselves.
 

Howitzer

Alfrescian
Loyal

China's PLA reforms slash political posts as part of a 300,000 cut in non-combat personnel by 2017

Cut of 300,000 largely non-combat staff by 2017 will leave military with two million personnel

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 29 November, 2015, 2:52am
UPDATED : Sunday, 29 November, 2015, 10:13am

Minnie Chan and Liu Zhen

pla-army.jpg


During a parade in September to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the second world war, President Xi Jinping revealed he planned to cut the size of nation's military by 300,000 personnel - twice the size of the British army. Photo: Xinhua

Many rank-and-file political officers are expected to lose their jobs in the reform of the People's Liberation Army.

However, the Chinese Communist Party's grip on the military's political ideology will be tightened with the setting up of a discipline commission that will take over the responsibilities for military discipline from political officers and their deputies in lower level military units.

A unique feature of the PLA means political officers - the most senior of whom are commissars - hold military rank equalling that of unit commanders to ensure the party's absolutely control over combat forces. Political officers, who exist at all levels, oversee discipline and manage non-combat units, including medical, communications, academies, promotion of personnel, as well as army entertainment troupes.

President Xi Jinping said a cut of 300,000 military personnel by 2017 - affecting many non-combat units overseen by the political departments - would lead to the PLA downsizing to two million personnel.

The decision to have fewer non-combat personnel means there will be no need for so many political officers.

"The planned reorganisation will affect many departments, with non-combat units either removed or downsized, so it will lead to a fewer political officers," Hong Kong-based military observer Liang Guoliang said.

Analysts said the number of political officers had increased in the past few decades.

During wars in the 1930s and 1950s, political commissar posts were held by commanders or deputy commanders. Former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping and former defence minister Peng Dehuai were political commissars.

In the 1950s, an army unit would have one political commissar and one deputy. S ome local military commands now have six deputy political commissars.

Such posts have become hotbeds for corruption. Disgraced Central Military Commission vice-chairman Xu Caihou , a former Shenyang political commissar, took bribes in return for making appointments.

Chen Daoyin , an associate professor at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said "the overhaul means the political status of departments and political commissars will be weakened … and the new disciplinary commission will help the party control the army more".


 

Howitzer

Alfrescian
Loyal

Chinese military confirms HQs to go in dramatic shake-up to rid challenge to Communist Party's leadership

Military mouthpiece confirms restructure, says existing system poses challenge to Communist Party's absolute rule over the armed forces

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 02 December, 2015, 12:14am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 02 December, 2015, 12:15am

Minnie Chan
[email protected]

adbed05e2500987c3c5af495dfafb1e2.jpg


A commentary in the PLA Daily said the existing system was outdated, too centralised and challenged the Communist Party's absolute leadership over the army. Photo: AP

China's military mouthpiece has confirmed that its four headquarters and seven key military commands will have to be dissolved and dramatically reorganised.

A commentary published on Monday in the PLA Daily, the official newspaper of the People's Liberation Army, said the existing system was outdated, too centralised and challenged the Communist Party's absolute leadership over the army.

"The current command system … combines decision making, enforcement and oversight functions into one, exposing a series of shortcomings," the commentary said.

"The four general headquarters' excessive concentration of power has allowed it to become an independent leadership hierarchy overshadowing many of the functions of the Central Military Commission, affecting the commission's centralised and unified leadership over the army."

The South China Morning Post reported in September that the military overhaul included plans to consolidate the seven commands and reorganise the so-called four headquarters - the General Staff, General Political, General Logistics and General Armaments departments.

But the commentary did not give details on how the four departments would be dissolved.

The Post cited sources close to the army as saying that only the General Staff Department would remain intact after the shake-up, with it and the Ministry of National Defence absorbing the functions of the three other departments.

The changes are also expected to reinforce President and CMC chairman Xi Jinping's political control over the PLA.

Shanghai-based military analyst Ni Lexiong said that without checks and balances, creating a highly centralised leadership under the CMC chairman raised the risk of abuse.

"As the one person with the great power of the party, military and government in his hands, Xi will need to be very self-disciplined to keep his mindset clear and clean. Otherwise, it will be a disaster for him and the whole country," Ni said.

Andrei Chang, editor-in-chief of Canada-based magazine Kanwa Asian Defence, said Xi faced political risks on par with those confronted by former Soviet chiefs Nikita Khrushchev and Mikhail Gorbachev, who were forced to step down after introducing sweeping military reforms in the 1960s and 1980s.

"Such a large-scale military overhaul, especially the massive lay-offs, cannot be pushed in such a hurry," Chang said.

The military overhaul, which aims to shift the PLA from an army-centric system towards a Western-style joint command in which the army, navy and air force are equally represented, would be the biggest restructure since the PLA was founded in 1933, the article said.



 

yellowarse

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
The 5 Most Powerful Armies on Planet Earth

pix3_110714.jpg

Kyle Mizokami

November 9, 2014

Prioritizing the five most powerful armies on Earth is not an easy task. Each country has its own unique security situation that shapes its military in general and land power in particular, accordingly.

Geographic, political, diplomatic and fiscal issues all determine army size. Does it exist in a bad neighborhood like India, Afghanistan or Jordan, or a nice neighborhood like the United States, Luxembourg or Canada? Is it internally focused, externally focused or both? How much in military spending can the government afford?

The end of the Cold War marked shift of hard military power eastward. The British Army is projected to drop from 120,000 in 1990 to just 82,000 in 2020. The French Army has been cut from 236,000 in 1996 to just 119,000 personnel. The most striking cuts have appeared in Germany, where the army has declined from 360,000 in 1990 to 62,000 today.

At the same time, several Asian armies are well north of half a million troops: India, Pakistan, North Korea, South Korea and China. Honorable mention goes to Myanmar, Iran and Vietnam, all of which have armies at least five times larger than Germany’s.

Manpower isn’t everything: North Korea has an estimated army size of 950,000, but is antiquated and unable to project land power beyond the Korean peninsula. Neither is technology, for that matter.

Could the German Army of 62,000 beat the Indian Army of 1.1 million? That’s probably not the right way to look at it. Switch armies between the two countries and both would be poorly served. With all of that in mind, here are five suggestions for the most powerful armies on Earth.

The United States

The undisputed land power on the planet is the United States Army. The Army has 535,000 soldiers, many of which are combat veterans, backed up by modern, cutting-edge equipment and a robust logistical system. The result is the only land power capable of multidivisional combat operations outside of its hemisphere.

At the core of the U.S. Army are ten combat divisions, backed up by a handful of separate combat brigades. Each division consists of three armor, mechanized infantry, light infantry, Stryker, airborne, and air assault brigades, complemented by one aviation and artillery brigade each. Manpower is from roughly 18,000 to 14,000 each, depending on the particular unit.

The U.S. Army is still reliant on the so-called “Big 5” weapons systems introduced during the Carter-Reagan era. The M1 Abrams main battle tank, M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System and Patriot Missile systems are all soldiering on thirty years after their introduction. Significant upgrades have maintained the lethality and relevance of these systems on the modern battlefield.

A significant portion of the U.S. Army is devoted to special forces and commando-type troops. U.S. Army special operations forces include three battalions of Rangers, seven Special Forces Groups, the brigade-sized 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and Delta Force. Total manpower for Army Special Operations Command alone is 28,500.


The People’s Liberation Army Ground Forces (China)

China’s Army—officially the People’s Liberation Army Ground Forces (PLAGF)— is the largest army in Asia. Numbering 1.6 million active duty troops, the PLAGF is charged with securing China’s borders, providing a capability to project land power in China’s neighborhood and increasingly, on a global scale.

The 1991 Persian Gulf War, in which the United States and its coalition allies made short work of a larger Iraqi Army shocked the PLAGF leadership. The Chinese Army’s traditional reliance on manpower had clearly been negated by advances in technology.

As a result, the Chinese Army has undergone significant changes in the past two decades. Active manpower has been slashed by several million troops. The number of field armies and combat divisions has been dramatically cut. At the same time, China’s rapid economic growth has allowed it to rapidly increase defense spending, funding high-tech upgrades.

Although the PLAGF lags behind China’s naval and air forces in priority, it has introduced a number of modern weapons systems. The Type 99 series of tanks has undergone several major revisions in the past decade, as the Chinese Army seeks to deploy a tank on par with the American M1 Abrams. The WZ-10, China’s first real attack helicopter, has begun to enter service. Despite the influx of new equipment, the PLAGF still counts vast amounts of obsolete equipment, such as Type 59 tanks in its active-duty inventories. Full modernization will take at least another decade, and possibly two, as the Chinese economy slows.

Rapid deployment forces are a key part of the PLAGF. PLAGF units could be called upon to operate on the border with India in the Himalayas, in the East and South China Seas or to invade Taiwan. In addition to armor and mechanized and infantry units earmarked for rapid response, the PLAGF has three airborne divisions, two amphibious divisions and three amphibious brigades. In addition, the divisions of the Shenyang Military Region may be called upon to secure the border with North Korea on short notice, or even intervene internally.

Indian Army

At 1.12 million troops, the Indian Army is the second largest army in Asia. India, sandwiched between traditional rivals Pakistan and China, requires an army capable of defending long territorial boundaries. Native insurgencies and the requirement to conduct operations with the country of 1.2 billion people also pushes the country to a large, infantry-heavy force.

The Army’s best divisions are split among their four “Strike Corps”, with three such corps facing Pakistan and one facing China. India has two amphibious brigades, the 91st and 340 Infantry Brigade Groups, and also operates three airborne and eight special-forces battalions.

India’s Army has undertaken a considerable modernization effort over the last decade, primarily to improve its ability to operate conventionally against Pakistan. The so-called “Cold Start” doctrine, in which the Indian Army’s Strike Corps can execute a short-notice attack on Pakistan, requires a highly mobile army along Western lines. Indian-made Arjun and Russian-made T-90 tanks, alongside American-made AH-64 Apache helicopters will be expected to defeat the Pakistani Army before nuclear weapons could be employed.

The rise of China and what India has considered territorial violations along the Himalayan border between the two countries has prompted India to deploy an additional 80,000 troops—as many as the British Army in 2020—to its border with China.


Russian Ground Forces

The Russian Ground Forces were formed from remnants of the Soviet Army. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, many units were simply transferred to the Russian Army. Underfunded for decades, much of the Russian Ground Forces are still equipped with Soviet-era weapons. The Ground Forces are receiving, and projected to receive, an influx of new, modern equipment.

The Russian Ground Forces number 285,000, or roughly half of the U.S. Army. The Ground Forces are fairly well equipped and fully mechanized. Despite this, the sheer size of Russia (one soldier per 23 square miles of territory) means the Ground Forces are spread thin.

Despite their relative paucity, the Ground Forces have had considerable combat experience since the end of the Cold War, from ill-fated operations in Chechnya in the early 1990s to the current situation in eastern Ukraine.

The Russian Army inherited the Soviet Union’s airborne and marine forces, which by the mid-2000s, had been reduced from six to four divisions. At 6,000 troops, each division is light on manpower but highly mobile, equipped with BMD airborne infantry fighting vehicles. There are also roughly 9,000 naval infantry spread among Russia’s major fleets, although these are technically part of the Russian Navy.

The Russian Ground Forces are set to receive the Armata Universal Combat Platform in a few years’ time. A break from a present dominated by legacy T-72/80/90 tanks, BMP infantry fighting vehicles and BTR armored personnel carriers, Armata will be a whole new family of vehicles dedicated to the tank, infantry fighting vehicle, artillery and recovery vehicle missions.

The British Army

Although fairly small by global standards, the British Army is probably the most capable land force in Europe. Well rounded with a mixture of light infantry, airborne, tank, mechanized and aviation units, the British Army is capable of a broad spectrum of operations.

The British Army currently numbers 102,000 troops. The army is currently facing a reorganization by 2020 that will cut active duty manpower to 82,000while increasing the role of army reservists. By 2020, the British Army’s deployable land forces will amount to seven brigades: one air assault, three armored/mechanized infantry and three infantry brigades.

Like the U.S. Army, the British Army relies on a legacy force of upgraded Cold War equipment. Challenger II main battle tanks and Warrior infantry fighting vehicles equip the mechanized forces. Although proven and reliable, these are getting on in age and will have to be eventually replaced at considerable cost.

The British Army’s special-purpose and special-operations forces are small, but among the best in the world. The British Army has three parachute battalions under 16th Air Assault Brigade plus the world-famous 22nd Special Air Service Regiment. An additional 8,000 Royal Marines, an infantry-centric force, operate under Royal Navy control and can deploy 3 Commando Brigade.

Kyle Mizokami is a writer based in San Francisco who has appeared in The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, War is Boring and The Daily Beast. In 2009 he cofounded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch. You can follow him on Twitter:@KyleMizokami.

 

harimau

Alfrescian
Loyal
This is Awe Inspiring!

[video=youtube;UctriMuXYS0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UctriMuXYS0[/video]
 
Top