Infantry Combat Equipment (non-firearm): Vests, Body Armor, NVGs, etc.

Well they have got their priorities right. Night vision first, then optics.

Another aspect to PLA procurement decisions that doesn’t seem to get considered much is how fast Chinese technology is advancing.

As such, it is always a balance between ordering kit now, and effectively being committed to the current tech levels, or wait a couple of years and have much better version available.

Just look at the new plate carriers and night vision and compare them to what was being trialed even a few years ago and you can see the huge advancement made.

It looks like current geopolitical considerations are now forcing the PLA’s hands a little and they are biting the bullet and committing resources now.

As such, I would not be surprised if we start seeing the new rifle optics starting to proliferate with PLA top tier combat units in the not too distant future. Remember even China needs time to ramp up production, and even after new kit starts being mass issued, it will still be entirely down to the PLA’s discretion on whether or not to release photos and videos to show that to the world.

by78 said:

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link to video please

Now the only things missing are the plates, new rifle and gloves.

by78 said:

The new kits are filtering down to Army, Airborne, and air defense units.

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I‘d have to say I‘m already very impressed by the gear that‘s filtering down to the units and with time everyone will learn how to properly use them. What bothers me however is that even at this stage trigger discipline still doesn‘t seem to be 100% enforced within the units.

With am army as large as China‘s you‘d expect this kind of thing to be beaten into a soldier from day one to avoid any accidents (especially with the pre-95-1 models where the safety is located at the butt)... and if my 2 cents count for anything I think this is entirely the fault of the individual NCO‘s.

plawolf said:

Looks remarkably like ESS Crossbows. Great thing if they are, because those are some really good ballistic goggles.

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Manufacturer marketing test

Independent stress test.

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Are these for blocking ricochet?

Fragmentation primarily. They are related to low velocity low mass projectiles ricochets would fall into that class.

by78 said:

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wait... where are the IR lasers? You need them to aim with NVGs:

Mohsin77 said:

wait... where are the IR lasers? You need them to aim with NVGs:

View attachment 64261

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They arent equipped with them yet. On the other hand, technically speaking you dont need ir lasers to aim with nods on. They just make aiming a lot easier, but they can also give your position away if your enemy wears nods.

Well technically those devices aren't straight up NVGs, but rather a sort of digital display (like in the QTS-11 system ) with an added secondary night vision capability. Interestingly they went digital for the night vision, instead of using analog image intensifier tubes. While its probably cheaper/easier to produce, unless they achieved some sort of a major breakthrough in technology it presumably suffers from issues like (comparatively) poor performance and latency, so just how useful would be in combat is a bit questionable.

As for aiming devices, the abundance of IR5118s seen at last year's parade suggests that they favor weapon mounted thermal optics over IR lasers, for obvious reasons. Should pair up nicely with those digital displays. Pretty much a given that they can project the image from the optic into the eyepiece. Maybe with a bit more work they can set up a sort of "crosshair" system like with the ENVG-B?

LawLeadsToPeace said:

They arent equipped with them yet. On the other hand, technically speaking you dont need ir lasers to aim with nods on. They just make aiming a lot easier, but they can also give your position away if your enemy wears nods.

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Technically speaking, you do need IR lasers to aim with NODs. It's practically impossible to get a sight picture with NODs on, especially during a firefight. You'll probably end up damaging the NOD or accidentally flipping it up when it bounces off your upper receiver.

This is how you hold your rifle with NODs (you look over the sight and aim with the laser):



And you don't keep your lasers on, you implement light discipline, turning them on to aim, fire and then turn them off with the pressure switch.

AZaz09dude said:

As for aiming devices, the abundance of IR5118s seen at last year's parade suggests that they favor weapon mounted thermal optics over IR lasers, for obvious reasons.

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That's not a good solution either. You need NVGs to see around you, for situational awareness. You can't just walk around looking through your mounted optic all the time. And projecting the optic's image on a display is also very sub-optimal. What you want is a panoramic NVG paired with IR lasers.

There's no point in arguing about this guys... This is just how it is and you should want the PLA to have this paired solution.