# PLA
Latest news and articles about PLA
Total: 33 articles found
Sleepless on the Coast: Inside the Eastern Theatre’s Mobile Missile Vigil
A Chinese Eastern Theatre Command ground‑based air‑defence unit has been operating from mobile shelters along the coast, maintaining relentless tracking and readiness for hours at a time. The deployment underscores China’s emphasis on mobility and survivability in coastal defence, while illustrating the personnel strain and escalation risks that accompany persistent high alert.
On China's 'Snow Island': How Soldiers at 5,300m Keep the Border Ready
A recent visit to the Chagola outpost on the Tibetan Plateau highlights the PLA's use of high-altitude garrisons to project steady border presence. Soldiers endure extreme weather, training intensively and remaining on duty through major holidays to sustain deterrent capability and reassure both domestic and regional audiences.
From Bayonet to Data Link: How a PLA Company Keeps a 1962 Hero Alive to Drive Modernisation
A People’s Liberation Army company that preserves the memory of a 1962 hero has used that legacy to anchor a difficult shift from traditional infantry tactics to data-driven, combined-arms warfare. After an initial failure in integrated training, the unit retooled its training, encouraged bottom-up innovation and fused a culture of sacrifice with modern technical skills to improve combat readiness on a high-altitude frontier.
Four Legs, One Rhythm: China Puts Cavalry Drill on Display to Showcase Military Discipline
Footage released by a Chinese military outlet shows cavalry horses moving in tightly synchronized formations, a ceremonial display that highlights the PLA’s emphasis on discipline, tradition and carefully managed public messaging. While horses have limited battlefield utility today, mounted units remain useful for certain terrains and for projecting an image of military order, not as an indicator of doctrinal change.
China's Forces Put Realism to the Test: Drills Hard‑wire High‑altitude, Extreme‑weather and Logistics Capabilities
Several Chinese military and paramilitary units have conducted closely observed, realism‑oriented exercises covering field engineering, UAV operation, high‑altitude reconnaissance, extreme‑cold logistics and jungle mobility. The training indicates a systemic emphasis on sustainment, terrain‑specific tactics and inter‑unit coordination designed to improve readiness across diverse operating environments.
Smile Walls and Statecraft: How a PLA Military District Is Recasting Rural Revitalization in Jiangxi
In Jiangxi’s Ganzhou region, the PLA’s military sub‑district has paired with 19 villages since 2021 to deliver infrastructure, education and agricultural support. Public “smile walls” of photographs dramatise tangible gains — higher incomes, new elderly care and improved schooling — while signalling the Party‑Army partnership behind China’s rural revitalization strategy. The initiative is practical and popular locally but also raises questions about the long‑term balance between military involvement and civilian governance in sustaining rural development.
PLA Unveils 'Spring Mode' Poster as Training Season Kicks Off
China’s military released a spring-themed poster campaign marking the start of the training season, using cultural imagery to signal renewed training tempo and to reinforce domestic narratives of military strengthening. The move is largely symbolic but consistent with a broader pattern of public messaging that normalizes sustained readiness and modernization.
China Shows Drone-Mounted Gun in Tibet Drill, Signaling New Low-Cost Firepower for High-Altitude Warfare
Chinese state media released footage of a drone fitted with a gun firing during motorized troop exercises in Tibet, signaling an operational push to integrate armed UAVs into high-altitude combined-arms tactics. The demonstration highlights both the PLA’s interest in cost-effective, distributed firepower and the technical limits and countermeasures that such systems will provoke.
On the Eastern Seaboard, China’s Frontline Troops Send a Stark Message of Readiness
A reporter's on-the-ground account from China's eastern coast highlights intensive, joint frontline readiness intended as both practical defence preparation and political deterrence. The story underscores how routine drills and heightened operational tempo raise the stakes for miscalculation in a crowded maritime theatre.
China’s Army Asks Public to Name Three New ‘Spring Festival’ Horses — A Small PR Moment with Bigger Symbolic Reach
The Chinese military has launched an online naming contest for three newly arrived horses ahead of the 2026 Lunar New Year, presenting detailed, personable profiles to solicit public submissions and votes. The campaign combines ceremonial tradition with digital outreach, humanizing the armed forces and using a lighthearted vehicle to advance institutional messaging during a politically resonant holiday.
Across the Snowline: Chinese Border Guards Patrol Xinjiang by Sled and Boot
State media imagery this week showed Chinese border troops in Xinjiang conducting snowbound patrols using motor sleds and foot patrols. The operations highlight Beijing’s efforts to sustain presence and mobility across harsh frontier terrain as part of broader border-security and readiness priorities.
PLA Navy Unit Escorts Honoured Sailors and Families on Cultural Pilgrimage to Cement Cohesion
A PLA naval brigade in the Eastern Theater took recently decorated servicemen and their families on a cultural tour of local museums and heritage sites to strengthen morale and family support. The event illustrates how the Chinese military uses recognition, traditional values and family engagement as tools of personnel management and political work.