China’s military ‘prepares for war’ with joint operations, cross-training

After five years of modernisation and restructuring command chains, People’s Liberation Army focuses on cross-service combat to maximise its fighting power

Improving joint operation capabilities necessary for the most likely combat scenarios for the PLA, such as a campaign against Taiwan, retired colonel says

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The PLA has been focusing on joint operations and cross-service cooperation to boost its preparedness for combat. Photo: Handout

Published: 2:00pm, 24 Jan 2021Updated: 9:02pm, 24 Jan 2021

China’s military is increasing its use of joint operations and officer cross-training to boost its readiness for war, according to insiders quoted in a newspaper report.

A five-year overhaul of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which ended last year, saw the restructuring of the command chain to make cross-service combat a basic approach for future operations.

To help develop commanders and staff for joint operations, the PLA began its 2021 training programme by deploying army officers on naval vessels and seconding air force officers to the army’s rocket units, PLA Daily reported on Tuesday.

“During the cross-training, I became familiar with the tactical and technical performance of the navy’s main combat equipment, and also developed the thinking mode and communication habits of joint operations,” Major Li Mengchun from the army’s Northern Theatre Command was quoted as saying about his secondment to the navy.

Yue Gang, a retired PLA senior colonel said improving joint operation capabilities was necessary for the most likely combat scenarios for the Chinese military, such as a potential campaign against Taiwan that would aim to “kill with a single hit”, he said.