PLA Dedicated Airborne Troops
- Thread starter Figaro
- Start date
Hendrik_2000
Lieutenant General
To celebrate 71th birthday of PLAAF they release new video. Airborne operation is extremely difficult and history count more failures than successes But for Taiwan contingencies it is indispensable
A series of air force military drills have been conducted by air assault brigade of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force airborne corps and parachuting units in south and north China in recent days, a move to mark the 71st founding anniversary the PLA Air Force, which falls on Nov 11.
A series of air force military drills have been conducted by air assault brigade of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force airborne corps and parachuting units in south and north China in recent days, a move to mark the 71st founding anniversary the PLA Air Force, which falls on Nov 11.
What a loss it would be if this was shot down, all those highly trained soldiers not even able to jump. I don’t think this should be a tactic on the modern battlefield.
They should use very small aircraft instead.
I find them still useful. The only shame is flying them over contested air space without air superiority.
Looking at these photos and footage of PLA airborne forces, it appears a significant portion of PLA airborne forces are freefall qualified, or if not, the freefall units are likely receiving a disproportionate amount of media coverage, which wouldn't necessarily be that unusual.
The other militaries maintaining significant airborne units are obviously the Russians and Americans.
Don't know much about the VDV or the assorted Spetsnaz and SSO units. With the Americans, relatively few paratroopers are freefall qualified, even when it comes to elite units like the 75th Ranger Regiment and the US Army's seven Special Forces Groups. With the former, only RRC operators are essentially all freefall qualified, and only a fraction of SF ODAs are trained or otherwise able to conduct freefall operations. In fact, I don't think the XVIII Airborne Corps, which includes the 82nd Airborne Division, possess any organic freefall elements after losing their LRS squadrons in the 2010s.
How does the PLA's airborne units compare to the Americans or other militaries when it comes to the number of freefall versus static line qualified personnel?
This is just a curiosity, but if some informed minds are willing to share, would like to learn more about the PLA's training and employment of airborne forces, both on the conventional and SOF sides.
lcloo
Captain
IMO, airborne troops are still useful for China's defense against intrusion of foreign forces in remote regions of China, especially the Western region of China like Xinjiang. But admittedly the situation where para troopers are needed is less and less in future when transport infrastructure is built all over China, especially railways and airports.
One particular region where paratroopers may be useful is over the flat agricultural plains on the East coast belts of Taiwan island. To be effective, PLAAF would have to destroy all air defense of ROC first. Cross straits sailing by ships woud take 6 hour to a full day from Mainland China to Taiwan, giving ample time for ROC forces to react. Airborne troops would take between 20 minutes to half an hour from bases on Mainland flying to Taiwan.
One particular region where paratroopers may be useful is over the flat agricultural plains on the East coast belts of Taiwan island. To be effective, PLAAF would have to destroy all air defense of ROC first. Cross straits sailing by ships woud take 6 hour to a full day from Mainland China to Taiwan, giving ample time for ROC forces to react. Airborne troops would take between 20 minutes to half an hour from bases on Mainland flying to Taiwan.
lcloo
Captain
Reminds me of GI Joe......