The People's Liberation Army (PLA) deploys over 8,000 tanks, 4,000 armoured vehicles, and 25,000 artillery pieces. Although not a modern army it is slowly re-structuring from its prior Soviet doctrines into a more suitable force to cope with future land warfare.

Units

The PLA has 10 group armies and are currently downsizing their divisions into brigades.

There are 10 active tank divisions consisting of a number of independent armoured brigades. A typical PLA armoured brigade has 4 tank battalions (124 main battle tanks)- each tank battalion has 3 tank companies (30 + 1 tank for tne battalion commander), 1 mechanised infantry battalion (40 amoured personnel carriers), 1 artillery battalion (18 self-propelled howitzers) - 3 batteries of 6 guns each and 1 anti-aircraft battalion (18 self-propelled howitzers) - 3 batteries of 6 guns each.

There are 8 active artillery divisions consisting of a number of artillery brigades. A typical PLA artillery brigade has 4 artillery battalions each with 18 guns in 3 batteries and 1 self-propelled anti-tank gun battalion (18 vehicles).

Equipment

Light Weapons

• QSZ-92 - 9 mm and 5.8 mm pistols
• Type 84 (mini), Type 77, Type 67 (muted) and the Type 64 7.62 mm pistols. The Type 54 is a copy of the soviet TT1930/1933 and is slowly being replaced.
• Type 95 - 5.8 mm bullpup design assault rifle and squad machine gun
• Type 87 - 5.8 mm assault rifle and squad machine gun
• Type 81 (7.62 mm) assault rifle and squad machine gun replaced the two Type 56s (copy of the soviet AK-47 and a copy of the soviet SKS both called Type 56)
• Type 88 - sniper rifle
• Type 85/79 and the Type 64 (suppressed) 7.62 sub-machine guns
• Type 67 - replacing the Type 53 (SG43) and Type 57 (SGM) 7.62 mm general purpose machine guns
• PF-97 (80 mm fuel air explosive launcher), PF-89 (80 mm Lightweight Anti-tank Weapon comparable to the United States M136 AT4) and FHJ-84 (twin 62 mm rocket launcher) are slowly relacing the Type 69-1 (Rocket propelled grenade launcher copied from the RPG-7)

Combat vehicles

• Type 98 - main battle tank (31+)
• Type 85-1, Type 85-II and Type 96 (Type 88B/C) - main battle tanks (over 500)
• Type 80, Type 80-II and Type 88/A/B - main battle tanks (about 500)
• Type 79 (updated version of the Type 69) and Type 69 (redesigned Type 59)- main battle tanks
• Type 59D and Type 59D1 - upgraded versions of Type 59-IIA, Type 59-II, Type 59-I and Type 59 (copy of the Russian T-54) main battle tanks
• Type 63 (amphibious design similar to the Russian PT-76) and Type 62 light tanks
• A new infantry fighting vehicle based on the Russian BMP-3 to replace the Type 86/WZ 501/501A/503/504 itself a copy of the BMP-1. It also will replace the YW 309 which is based on the YW 531H.
• Type 90/92/ZSL-92/WZ 551 - (designed similar to the French VAB)amphibious infantry fighting vehicle
• Type 85/YW 531H and Type 89/YW 534 - amphibious armoured personnel carrier including an anti-tank version replacing over 2000 Type 63 (YW 531C/D/E also known as K-63, M1967 and M1970)
• Type 77/77-1/77-2 (improved copy of Russian BTR-50) - armoured personnel carrier (+200)
• Type 90/92A/ZSL-92A/WZ 551 - (based on the Type 92 IFV) and the WZ 523 (also known as M1984 it is designed similar to the South African Ratel) amphibious armoured personnel carriers

Artillery

• WS-1 and WS-1B - a 8 and 4 tube 320 mm multiple launch rocket system
• A-100 - 10 tube 300mm Multiple Rocket Launcher System
• WM-80 and Type 83/WM-40 - 273mm Multiple Rocket Launcher Systems
• Type 85/YW 306(on a YW 531H) and Type 82 (on a Yanan SX250 6X6 truck) - 30 tube 130 mm multiple rocket launcher replacing the 19 tube 130 mm multiple rocket launcher of the Type 70 (on a YW 531C) and Type 63 (on a 4X4 truck)
• Type 90 (on a Tiema SC2030 6X6 flatbed truck) and Type 89 (tracks) - 40 tube 122 mm multiple launch rocket systems replacing the Type 81 (copy of the soviet BM-21 Grad)
• PLZ-45 - 155 mm self-propelled howitzer might replace the obsolete Type 83 which is a 152 mm self-propelled howitzer
• YW 323 D30 (based on the YW 531H) and the Type 89 (based on the Type 77 APC) - amphibious 122 mm self-propelled howitzers replacing the Type 85 (YW 531C chassis) and Type 70 (YW 531B chassis)
• Type 90 - 122 mm self-propelled howitzer wheeled (based on a WZ-551 chassis)
• Type 89 - 155 mm towed gun/howitzer based on the GC-45 howitzer
• Type 66 (copy of the soviet D-20) 152 mm towed gun/howitzer and the Type 83 152 mm towed gun are replacing the Type 54 itself a copy of the soviet ML-20(M1937).
• Type 59 and Type 59-1 - copy of the soviet M46 130 mm towed field gun
• Type 85 - 122 mm towed howitzer derived from the soviet D-30 (M1963) and replaced the Type 54 howitzer
• YW 382 (120 mm) and YW 383 (82 mm) - amphibious mortar carriers based on the YW 531H replacing the YW 381 and YW 304 respectively which where based on the YW 531C
• Type 80 - twin 57 mm self-propelled anti-aircraft equivalent to the ZSU-57-2 but using the Type 69 tank chassis.
• HQ-2J (Hongqi-2) - anti-aircraft missiles based on the Type 77 transporter, the missiles are upgraded versions of the HQ-1 which is a copy of the SA-2 Guideline
• HQ-10 - licensed built S-300PMU-1 (SA-10D Grumble) anti-aircraft missiles
• HQ-15 - upgraded version of the HQ-10 anti-aircraft missiles

Non-combat vehicles

• Type 84 - Tank laying bridge using the Type 69 tank chassis
• Type 653 (Type 69 tank chassis) and Type 59 (Type 59 tank chassis) - armoured recovery vehicles
• YW 703 (based on the YW 534), Type 85 (based on the YW 531H APC) - amphibious recovery vehicles
• Type 85 (based on the YW 531H), WZ 701 (based on the YW 531C), WZ 506 (based on the WZ 501) and a version based on the Type 77 - amphibious command vehicles
• Type 77-2 (based on the Type 77) - amphibious artillery ammunition carrier
• WZ 751 (based on the YW 531H), YW 750 (based on the YW 531C), WZ 505 (based on the WZ 501) and a version based on the Type 77 - amphibious armoured ambulances
• Bv 206 Swedish tracked all-terrain multipurpose vehicle
• Type 77 and Type 60/WZ420/1 tracked tractors
• Type 82 consists of the HY473 (tractor truck) and HY962 (semi-trailer) - Heavy Equipment Transporter up to 75 tons
• TA580/TAS5380 (20 ton 8x8), TAS5450 (25 ton 8x8), TAS5500 (28 ton 10x10), TAS5570 (30 ton 10x10) and TAS5690 (42 ton 12x12) series special heavy duty trucks
• WS2300(6x6), WS2400(8x8) and WS2500(10x8) 20 ton series special heavy duty trucks
• XC2200 (copy of the German Mercedes-Benz 2060) 7.5 ton 6x6 heavy duty trucks
• SX2190 (copy of the Austrian Steyr-91) 7 ton 6x6 trucks replacing the JN252, CQ261 and SX250 heavy duty trucks
• SX250/SX2150 series 5 ton 6x6 heavy duty trucks
• EQ2102 series 3.5 ton trucks replacing the CA30 (copy of the 2.5 ton soviet ZIL 157)
• CA141/CA1091 series trucks replacing the CA10 (copy of the 3.5 ton soviet ZIL 150)
• EQ240/EQ2081 and EQ245/EQ2100 series 2.5 ton trucks
• EQ2050A series High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) copied from the US M998
• NJ2045/2046 series 1.5 ton lightweight vehicle
• BJ212/BJ2020 series 0.5 ton lightweight 4 x4 vehicle

External Links

• http://www.sinodefence.com/army/orbat/default.asp