Formations and Units
See also: List of divisions of the People's Liberation ArmyThere are 18 corps sized Group Armies, divided among seven military regions — Shenyang, Beijing, Lanzhou, Jinan, Nanjing, Guangzhou, and Chengdu. Within the military regions, divisions are being downsized into brigades.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) currently attributes the PLA Ground Force with nine active tank divisions consisting of a number of armored brigades. Dennis Blasko wrote in 2000 that the traditional structure of PLA divisions consisted roughly of three regiments – tuan – of the main arm, each of three battalions plus support units, a fourth regiment of infantry (in an armored division) or armor (in an infantry division), an artillery regiment, an anti-aircraft regiment or battalion, and signals, engineer, reconnaissance, and chemical defense battalions or companies, plus combat service support units.
A typical PLA armored brigade has 4 tank battalions (124 main battle tanks) – each tank battalion has 3 tank companies (30 + 1 tank for the battalion commander), 1 mechanized infantry battalion (40 armored personnel carriers), 1 artillery battalion (18 self-propelled howitzers) – 3 batteries of 6 guns each and 1 anti-aircraft battalion
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).
Brigades are a relatively new formation for the PLA. Introduced in the 1990s, the PLA plans to expand their number and rid itself of the massive, rigid formations of the Soviet model. As a step towards modernizing its army, this new system allows for smaller, cross-service arm battle groups of battalion size within a brigade to operate independently, increasing the PLA's ability to respond to a rapidly changing battle situation. The PLA has yet to fully take advantage of this new formation, but has been taking steps to successfully integrate it in its force structure.
Read more about this topic: People's Liberation Army Ground Force
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