People's Liberation Army
Special Operations Forces
中国人民解放军特种部队
Active1988 – present
Country People's Republic of China
Allegiance Chinese Communist Party
Branch Ground Force
 Navy
 Air Force
Rocket Force
TypeSpecial forces
Part of People's Liberation Army
March《特种部队之歌》
("Anthem of the Special Forces")
Engagements
Insignia
Sleeve badge

The People's Liberation Army Special Operations Forces (中国人民解放军特种部队) are a special operations force of the People's Liberation Army.

The forces intended combat role is to be rapid-response units in the event of a limited regional war under high-tech conditions. They also carry out commando, counter-terrorism, and intelligence gathering operations.

History

The PLA's interest in modern special warfare was first noted in the mid-1980s when it was shifting its military stance from a "people's war" to "fighting a local war under hi-tech conditions." The PLA planners believed that the next war would be a short, fast-paced conflict on the periphery rather than a total war on Chinese territory, and that conventional infantry-orientated ground forces would no longer meet their requirements. Additionally, the PLA's combat experience from the 1979 and 1980s border conflicts with Vietnam, where Vietnamese special forces caused substantial trouble to the Chinese forces, demonstrated the value of special units.

On 23 December 2008, their first publicly known mission was to accompany three Chinese warships in protecting and escorting commercial ships against Somali pirates, in cooperation with other nations as part of a UN mandate.[1]

Special operations units

People's Liberation Army Navy Special Operation Forces (2016)

The vast majority of the PLA's Special Operations Forces are organized into brigades. Each of the PLA Ground Force's 13 group armies is assessed to have one special forces brigade (特战旅) attached, each with 2,000 to 3,000 personnel, while the PLAAF Airborne Corps, PLAN Marine Corps, and the PLA Rocket Force (PLARF) each has one SOF brigade.[2] PLA SOF units spend considerable time training on their own to establish their specialist proficiencies and are increasingly integrated into larger combined arms and joint training.For instance, the five SOF brigades of the Eastern and Southern Theater Commands, along with the PLAN Marine Corps’ Sea Dragons brigade (蛟龙突击队) place a greater emphasis on amphibious assault operations, while the Thunder Gods brigade (雷神突击队) attached to the Airborne Corps specialises in airborne operations.[3] Official source indicates that at least one infantry brigade in the 81st Group Army (Central Theater Command) was converted to a SOF brigade in May 2017.[4]

Awards

  • 2009 international military competitions in Slovakia – 8-first places, 6-second places in 13 individual competition events.[5]
  • Best overall performance at the fifth and sixth Warrior Competition, organized by the Jordan Armed Forces at the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Centre.[6]
  • Chinese Special Forces took first, second, and fourth place at 2014 Olympics for Elite Warriors.[7]
  • Chinese Thundergod (Leishen) Commando Airborne troops participated in the Golden Owl-2015 International Competition of Special Forces held in Kazakhstan, taking first place.[8][9] They also attended the Russia International Army Games in 2015 where they took first place in the "Airborne Platoon" competition.[10]
  • China's Sky Sword Unit placed first in the ninth edition of the 2017 Annual Warrior Competition in Amman, Jordan.[11] China's Falcon Commando Unit placed third overall in the competition.[11] Thirty-one teams from seventeen nations participated in the competition.
  • China's Snow Leopards team placed second in the tenth edition of the 2018 Annual Warrior Competition in Amman, Jordan.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Archived December 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Chen, John; Wuthnow, Joel (January 2022). "China Maritime Report No. 18: Chinese Special Operations in a Large-Scale Island Landing". U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  3. ↑ "Chinese Special Operations Forces: Not Like "Back at Bragg"". War on the Rocks. 2015-01-01. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  4. ↑ "[军事报道]在习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想指引下——新时代新作为新篇章 创新人才培养 加快新质战斗力生成". tv.cctv.com. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  5. ↑ "Chinese NCO flaunts might in international military competition". Eng.chinamil.com.cn. 2010-02-23. Archived from the original on 2012-08-22. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
  6. ↑ KASOTC, all4shooters.com / Photos (13 May 2014). "Snow Leopard Unit wins 6th Annual Warrior Competition - Pro-zone - Pro-zone - News - all4shooters.com". all4shooters.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-23. Retrieved 2015-05-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ Jeffrey Lin and P.W. Singer,Popular Science,Eastern Arsenal
  8. ↑ "HOME-CCTVPLUS". 220.181.168.86. Archived from the original on 2016-07-01. Retrieved 2016-06-05.
  9. ↑ Jianing, Yao. "Chinese airborne troops win glory in int'l special forces competition". english.chinamil.com.cn. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
  10. ↑ Yao, Jianing. "Chinese team ranks first in first stage of Airborne Platoon competition". english.chinamil.com.cn. Archived from the original on 2017-01-11. Retrieved 2016-06-05.
  11. 1 2 "Event - Annual Warrior Competition". Archived from the original on 2018-01-30. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  12. ↑ "10th Annual Warrior Competition ~ Results". 2018-05-07. Archived from the original on 2018-08-07. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
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