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

Blitzo said:

I wouldn't quite go that far.
The way these sort of equipment are issued, they are often not standardized across multiple units let alone theater commands.

I wouldn't be surprised if only this particular unit's artillery personnel might have those night optics, without any intent or serious plan to actually proliferate them across the PLAGF.
OTOH, if we can see artillery units across CABdes and arty brigades across multiple different theater commands, then your suggestion would be the case.
Heck, even in this case, the night vision devices are not installed on the helmets but rather attached to the helmet by straps, which is a classic indicator that it is an ad-hoc solution.

All of which is to say -- night vision in the PLAGF so far is definitely still not yet "common" and those photos shouldn't be seen as particular evidence of it.

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Unless it was an initiative by the individual troops, it is still significant. Non-LOS units are the absolute last combat units who get night vision. But I agree we should wait for more photos.

BoraTas said:

Unless it was an initiative by the individual troops, it is still significant. Non-LOS units are the absolute last combat units who get night vision. But I agree we should wait for more photos.

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Well unit to unit procurement of this sort of auxiliary equipment does tend to vary a lot, and while this may not have been an initiative by the "individual soldiers" we have no reason to think it is at the brigade level, group army level, theater command level let alone PLAGF level.

For all we know this is just that specific battalion, which they want to be able to operate more effectively at night.
And in the past when we've seen small dribs and drabs of this kind of equipment issued it often is on the individual unit level.

Which is why I strongly think this is not particularly significant.

The new scope in use. Shows the POV of the sight.

BoraTas said:

Night vision for artillery is nice to see and signifies how common night vision has become in the PLAGF. Most countries still don't issue night vision to artillery troops on the premise of "They don't need it". Yes, they don't really need it since they can do just fine with flashlights but people tend to get demoralized or shocked easily if they can't see beyond a few meters.

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Here in Germany artillery still uses red light at night for ammunition resupply point, always looks like a chrismas market from afar

Out of experience, one quickly adapt to the circumstances since the area of interest during a fire mission and then resupplying is rather limited if we neglect the distance traveld with the vehicles to counter Counterbattery..


It is assumed that those guys work so far away from the FEBA that if they would have contact with enemy, the whole brigade must have made something wrong. Thus investing NVG to those troops is "wasted" money, but with all the new sensory tech coming into service this kind of thinking becomes quite dangerous. I really can only think of the US Army and now PLAGF out of the hat, which has opened herself up to the idea to supply NVG to all ground troops. The rest just dont have enough money to consider it viable.

LawLeadsToPeace said:

Well, if you look at the equipment of Chinese peacekeepers in the past, they had crotch armor:
View attachment 103194However I believe they got rid of it due to speed. Based on what I heard from Afghanistan and Iraq War vets, crouch armor sucks because it limits your motion and adds more weight. In combat and rapid reaction situations, you want to move quickly since the longer you stay in one place, the higher the probability of the enemy hitting you. I guess the Chinese learned that during their peacekeeping ops because they don’t wear that anymore.

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I think it is necessary for me to introduce a new video I just saw today：

This infantry equipment enthusiast has many interesting collections. He has a video series to introduce the infantry equipment used in PLA history.

In this video, he introduced the difference between PLA in SQUAD and reality in detail, and combined with the display of many real equipment.

Tundra (left) and desert (right) camouflage side by side.

by78 said:

Tundra (left) and desert (right) camouflage side by side.

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There isn’t even that much difference between these 2 uniforms. Should had made a single uniform that suits both environment.

A decent look at the earphone. The ear tip appears to be double-flanged for isolation.

The Type-21 winter coat, with water resistant fibers and removable inner padded jacket.

(Continued from last post...)