PLA Expands Data-Driven Training Across Services, State Media Reports

Units across China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) are expanding the use of quantitative data analysis, digital profiling, and automated monitoring systems to manage live-fire and tactical training, according to a report by the PLA Daily. Covering formations across the ground force, navy, air force, and rocket force, the report highlighted field applications ranging from individualized performance tracking and real-time flight telemetry reviews to dynamic ammunition reallocation and database-assisted radar targeting. The push reflects broader military efforts to shift training management from standardized pass-fail assessments to continuous, data-driven optimization.

The report illustrates how the PLA's institutional emphasis on digital transformation and "intelligentized" capabilities is being applied at tactical, grassroots echelons. Moving beyond broad modernization slogans, these field applications show how units are attempting to standardize performance metrics, shorten specialist training pipelines, and experiment with software-enabled command decisions in logistics and air defense.

Units across multiple branches of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) are integrating data analytics, digital profiling, and automated tracking systems into routine field exercises, according to an official report published by the PLA Daily. The coverage outlines a shift away from traditional pass-or-fail assessments toward continuous quantitative monitoring. In the 73rd Group Army, following a maritime live-fire exercise, staff officers entered vehicle crew scores into a "Military Training Information System" to instantly generate performance profiles and identify specific tactical deficiencies. Similarly, at a naval coastal missile regiment's training grounds, personnel records have shifted from single-event scoring to comprehensive data dossiers, enabling instructors to design customized training regimens based on tracked weaknesses. Aviation and tactical ground units are applying data systems to accelerate post-exercise evaluations and logistical coordination. An Air Force aviation brigade conducting day-and-night training in eastern China utilized a real-time flight monitoring system to capture flight paths, tactical maneuvers, and pilot coordination. The platform automatically generated scored performance reports and debriefing recommendations. In an Army brigade exercise, an ammunition management console tracked expenditure rates across maneuvering battalions, allowing staff officers to recommend dynamically shifting munitions from an advancing unit with surplus rounds to an adjacent assault force facing shortages. Technological integration was also reported in specialized air defense, missile, and naval operations. An Air Force surface-to-air missile unit utilized an airspace situational database to calculate terrain screening angles and blind spots after a radar temporarily lost contact with a target, allowing operators to adjust parameters and reacquire the track. Meanwhile, a Rocket Force regiment used virtual simulation software to quantify crew performance and shorten specialist training cycles, a 71st Group Army brigade leveraged an intelligent base control system for automated debriefing reports, and a naval submarine unit applied quantitative data tracking throughout an extended voyage.