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

Another question if anyone know the answer, in theory China should have some form of stockpile of ballistic vests etc. and in combat, my assumption will be that most if not all soldiers will be sent out with some form of ballistic body armour.

With the ramp up in the importance of realism in the last few years with regards to training/exercise methods and intensity, I find it strange to see basically all Chinese soldiers partaking in the exercises to wear no vest other than the tactical variety. Isn't it blatantly obvious that it is important to simulate the added weight of combat gear in exercises? Especially if they want training to be as close as possible to combat conditions? Does anyone know why that this is not taken into consideration?

Even some form of vest just to simulate the added weight and loss in dexterity a ballistic vest would cause would be appropriate. I.e. just a dud vest made of normal materials, not kevlar, just with simple steel inserts and will not deteriorate in storage and use.

Sunbud said:

Another question if anyone know the answer, in theory China should have some form of stockpile of ballistic vests etc. and in combat, my assumption will be that most if not all soldiers will be sent out with some form of ballistic body armour.

With the ramp up in the importance of realism in the last few years with regards to training/exercise methods and intensity, I find it strange to see basically all Chinese soldiers partaking in the exercises to wear no vest other than the tactical variety. Isn't it blatantly obvious that it is important to simulate the added weight of combat gear in exercises? Especially if they want training to be as close as possible to combat conditions? Does anyone know why that this is not taken into consideration?

Even some form of vest just to simulate the added weight and loss in dexterity a ballistic vest would cause would be appropriate. I.e. just a dud vest made of normal materials, not kevlar, just with simple steel inserts and will not deteriorate in storage and use.

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Well, what kind of "war" are you referring to? All of the Chinese combat troops that are currently deployed in active hotspots have been seen with full body armor and gear, including those in Sudan and marines in the Gulf of Aden. Unless you are talking about a full blown land invasion of China, there is no need to stockpile bulletproof vests and such for every single soldier in China. Body armor have expiry dates and the PLA is trying to slim its budget at the moment.

Sunbud said:

Another question if anyone know the answer, in theory China should have some form of stockpile of ballistic vests etc. and in combat, my assumption will be that most if not all soldiers will be sent out with some form of ballistic body armour.

With the ramp up in the importance of realism in the last few years with regards to training/exercise methods and intensity, I find it strange to see basically all Chinese soldiers partaking in the exercises to wear no vest other than the tactical variety. Isn't it blatantly obvious that it is important to simulate the added weight of combat gear in exercises? Especially if they want training to be as close as possible to combat conditions? Does anyone know why that this is not taken into consideration?

Even some form of vest just to simulate the added weight and loss in dexterity a ballistic vest would cause would be appropriate. I.e. just a dud vest made of normal materials, not kevlar, just with simple steel inserts and will not deteriorate in storage and use.

Click to expand...

The delivery time for an order of 50000 vests is probably like 2weeks.

So what point is there in having a stockpile?

SinoSoldier said:

Well, what kind of "war" are you referring to? All of the Chinese combat troops that are currently deployed in active hotspots have been seen with full body armor and gear, including those in Sudan and marines in the Gulf of Aden. Unless you are talking about a full blown land invasion of China, there is no need to stockpile bulletproof vests and such for every single soldier in China. Body armor have expiry dates and the PLA is trying to slim its budget at the moment.

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AndrewS said:

The delivery time for an order of 50000 vests is probably like 2weeks.

So what point is there in having a stockpile?

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I understand your points, that was just a preface into my opinion on why I am asking the question I am asking and obviously is not 100% accurate.

My question still stands:

I find it strange to see basically all Chinese soldiers partaking in the exercises to wear no vest other than the tactical variety. Isn't it blatantly obvious that it is important to simulate the added weight of combat gear in exercises? Especially if they want training to be as close as possible to combat conditions? Does anyone know why that this is not taken into consideration?

Even some form of vest just to simulate the added weight and loss in dexterity a ballistic vest would cause would be appropriate. I.e. just a dud vest made of normal materials, not kevlar, just with simple steel inserts and will not deteriorate in storage and use.

Sunbud said:

I understand your points, that was just a preface into my opinion on why I am asking the question I am asking and obviously is not 100% accurate.

My question still stands:

I find it strange to see basically all Chinese soldiers partaking in the exercises to wear no vest other than the tactical variety. Isn't it blatantly obvious that it is important to simulate the added weight of combat gear in exercises? Especially if they want training to be as close as possible to combat conditions? Does anyone know why that this is not taken into consideration?

Even some form of vest just to simulate the added weight and loss in dexterity a ballistic vest would cause would be appropriate. I.e. just a dud vest made of normal materials, not kevlar, just with simple steel inserts and will not deteriorate in storage and use.

Click to expand...

I thought the PLA soldiers had been wearing ballistic vests in most of the latest exercises that we have seen.

vesicles said:

I thought the PLA soldiers had been wearing ballistic vests in most of the latest exercises that we have seen.

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Hmm, I have been following closely as well, It seems in exercises involving other countries, I see the use of vests, but in the regular exercises I've seen them only wear webbing. Maybe I've missed the ones you've seen.

Looks like a new combat uniform for the special forces, complete with a new camo pattern and new combat boots...

The PLA camo patterns are steadily being improved upon, while the PLAN Marines are still stuck with the ridiculous Smurf costumes.............. I just have one question. Why !?!?!? I mean why ?.............

Great find! Almost looks like MARPAT with Chinese characterisics . Hopefully this will spread to more regular units.

According to an earlier post, the marines wear the blue because the PLA want offshore assets to confidently give fire support without fear of blue on blue (pun intended) due to technological barriers regarding IFF. Strange that this is still an issue in the PLA today. Hopefully the marines will start to wear more sensible uniforms.

Viktor Jav said:

The PLA camo patterns are steadily being improved upon, while the PLAN Marines are still stuck with the ridiculous Smurf costumes.............. I just have one question. Why !?!?!? I mean why ?.............

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This has been discussed in length in a separate thread in this forum. Now I find a way to make it straighter to explain. One picture is better than thousands of words.

If you have been to tropical islands you will have seen this.

This is the kind of environment that PLAN Marines would fight in the near term. See the colors.

This is the PLAN camo (helmet). Look at the background water.

This is the PLAN camo compared with US Marines camo. Which one do you think is the best to fit the Chinese battle environment?

The US marine corps is more of an Army than a pure marine. It started as a pure marine, but now it has transformed to conduct infantry tasks that usually belongs to the Army. That broadened profile has demanded its camo to fit better on land rather than in the water near the beach.

When and IF PLAN marines begin to extend their mission to more inland tasks, they will change accordingly, but we will have to wait and see. Personally, I don't expect that kind of change (in the way of US marines) because marines are less capable than heavy Army troops on land no matter what. If you beef up the marines, you make them army, then what is the point to have a separate Marine corps to begin with?

The US marine is a totally different story and unique without peers in the world because of politics. It is institutionalized as the ONLY force that US president can mobilize without approval from the congress. So it becomes a min army+navy+airforce.