# PLA
Latest news and articles about PLA
Total: 32 articles found
Beijing’s Show of Force Over Scarborough: Armed PLA Flights as Manila’s Exercise Zone Escalates Tensions
China staged naval patrols and armed air overflights near Scarborough Shoal after the Philippines included the feature in a declared exercise zone, signalling Beijing’s readiness to defend what it calls sovereign territory. The episode increases the risk of miscalculation and highlights the limits of legal rulings and the growing role of calibrated coercion in the South China Sea.
China’s Southern Military Turns Cross‑Domain Joint Drills into a Routine Tool to Harden Forces
China’s Southern Theatre Command is institutionalizing cross‑domain joint drills—linking sea, air and land units through integrated command systems and realistic scenario training—to harden wartime readiness. The routineization of such exercises boosts the PLA’s coordinated response but raises risks of faster escalation and complicates regional security calculations.
Walls of Keepsakes: How Remote Northern Outposts Turn Memory into Mission
Soldiers at three remote posts in the Daxing'anling forest have transformed dormitory walls into visual records of endurance and craft—photographs, grain mosaics and birch‑bark bookmarks that memorialize repairs, promotions and family ties. These grassroots practices sustain morale, preserve tacit knowledge and underscore how routine, low‑tech labor keeps strategic communications links alive in extreme winter conditions.
Cold-Weather Drills Across China Signal Focus on Year-Round Combat Readiness
Chinese military and paramilitary units have carried out winter training across multiple theatres—testing air-defence, mobility, medical evacuation and small-unit tactics under severe weather. The exercises aim to eliminate seasonal readiness gaps, sharpen high-altitude and cold-weather skills, and publicly demonstrate sustained operational capability.
The Gobi’s Ironman: How a Sergeant-Engineer Became the PLA’s Frontline Fixer in Xinjiang
Sergeant Lei Yaoming, a 23-year veteran stationed in Xinjiang, has become a multi-skilled technical leader in PLA construction units by combining on-the-job learning, innovation and frontline courage. His career underlines the PLA’s reliance on experienced non-commissioned officers to adapt new equipment, solve maintenance challenges in remote areas and train junior technicians as the force modernises.
From Stone Huts to Box Rockets: How an Eastern Theatre Artillery Unit Keeps Combat-Ready on the Move
Soldiers from an Eastern Theatre Command rocket-artillery battalion have spent over a year living and training away from their garrison in improvised sites while operating new long-range containerised rocket systems. Their experience illustrates the PLA’s shift toward dispersed, mobile operations, with implications for logistics, personnel endurance and regional deterrence dynamics.
State TV Amplifies PLA Call for Long-Term, All-Fronts Crackdown on Military Corruption
China’s state television broadcast a PLA Daily editorial calling for an intensive, long-term and comprehensive anti-corruption campaign in the military. The prominence of the message signals Beijing’s intent to pair disciplinary purges with systemic reforms, reinforcing political control while aiming to improve operational effectiveness.
China’s Southern Army Rewires Air–Ground Tactics: Pilots Embedded with Ground Units, Data Links Close the Loop
A southern PLA brigade is deepening air–ground integration by embedding pilots in ground units, rotating ground commanders into flight training, and linking command systems to distribute fused sensors to cockpits and soldier terminals. The measures aim to speed target sharing and synchronise effects but increase dependence on resilient datalinks and rehearsed contingency habits under electromagnetic stress.
China Tightens Scientific Standards to Broaden and Sharpen Pilot Selection for Modern Air War
The PLA has issued a comprehensive revision of medical standards for selecting flight cadets, effective 1 August 2026, shifting selection toward a scientific, combat-oriented model. Key changes include human–machine fit adjustments, a composite visual assessment, upgraded psychological screening, 24-hour ECG monitoring, and the relaxation of some non-essential exclusions to widen the candidate pool.
Songs, Snow and Sacrifice: How a Remote Spanggur Outpost Sustains China’s Frontier Presence
At a remote high‑altitude outpost by Spanggur Lake, China’s border troops sustain presence through ritual, mutual care and small infrastructural projects. A company anthem and the memorial to a fallen pack horse have become focal points for morale, civil‑military outreach and a broader narrative linking frontier sacrifice to national cohesion.
From Red Roots to High-Altitude Strike Units: How a 99‑Year‑Old PLA Company is Rebranding Tradition for Modern War
A century‑old PLA company based in Tibet is pairing its revolutionary lineage with rapid operational modernisation, transforming symbolic rituals into practical high‑altitude combat readiness. By improvising manuals, integrating drones and networking new vehicles, the unit illustrates the PLA’s wider push to fuse tradition with informationised, system‑level capabilities.
Under the Wings: How China's Ground Technicians Keep Army Helicopters Ready for War
A feature from the PLA’s Army Aviation Academy highlights the often-overlooked role of aviation repair crews in keeping Chinese army helicopters mission-capable. Through a mix of meticulous routine, multi-disciplinary training and local innovation, these ground technicians reduce downtime and increase operational resilience, underscoring that maintenance and human capital are central to China’s military effectiveness.