People's Liberation Army (Chinese Superpower)

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the armed forces of the People's Republic of China, Myanmar, Bhutan and Mongolia as well as the Communist Party of China (CPC). The PLA consists of five professional service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, Rocket Force, and the Strategic Support Force.

The PLA is the world's largest military force, with a strength of approximately 3,102,000 personnel, 0.22% of the country's population. It is the one of the most modernised military powers in the world, with significant defence and power projection capabilities. It boasts the largest defence budget in the world, and many western authorities – including SIPRI and the U.S. Department of Defense – claim it may be even higher then reported.

The PLA is under the command of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the CPC. It is legally obliged to follow the principle of civilian control of the military, although in practical terms this principle has been implemented in such a way as to ensure the PLA is under the absolute control of the Communist Party of China. Its commander in chief is the Chairman of the Central Military Commission (usually the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China). The Ministry of National Defense, which operates under the State Council, does not exercise any authority over the PLA and is far less powerful than the CMC.

A system of political officers embedded within the military ensures party authority over the armed forces so that the primary role of the Ministry of Defence is that of a liaison office with foreign militarises rather than a commanding authority. The political and military leadership have made a concerted effort to create a professional military force, the duties of which are restricted to national defence and to the provision of assistance in domestic economic construction and emergency relief. This conception of the role of the PLA requires the promotion of specialised officers who can understand modern weaponry and handle combined arms operations. Units around the country are assigned to one of five theatres commands by geographical location.

Service Branches
The PLA encompasses five main service branches: the Ground Force, the Navy, the Air Force, the Rocket Force, and the Strategic Support Force. Following the 500,000 troop reduction announced in 2039 at the end of the Himalayan war, the total strength of the PLA has been reduced to just over 3.1 million. Further reforms will see an additional 400,000 personnel reduction. The reductions will come mainly from non-combat ground forces, which will allow more funds to be diverted to naval, air, and strategic missile forces. This shows China's shift from ground force prioritisation to emphasising air and naval power with high-tech equipment for offensive roles.

Ground Force


The PLA has the world's largest ground force, currently totalling some 1.8 million personnel, or about 58% of the PLA's total manpower. The ground forces are divided among the five theatre commands as named above.

In times of crisis, the PLA Ground Force will be reinforced by numerous reserve and paramilitary units. The PLAGF reserve component has about 810,000 personnel divided into 45 infantry and 20 anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) divisions.

A further three amphibious mechanised divisions were also established in Nanjing and Taipei SAR during the Sino-Indian Proxy War, increasing the number of such division to 9. All of the active divisions and brigades of the PLA are mechanised or armoured.

Navy
Until the early 1990s, the navy performed a subordinate role to the PLA Land Forces. Since then it has undergone rapid modernisation. The 515,000 strong People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is organised into five major fleets: the North Sea Fleet headquartered at Qingdao, the North East Sea Fleet headquartered at Ningbo, the East Sea Fleet headquartered at Kaohsiung, the South East Sea Fleet headquartered in Zhanjiang and the South Sea Fleet headquartered at Tây Ninh.

Each fleet consists of an aircraft carrier, between 30 and 47 surface ships, between 7 and 14 nuclear submarines, a naval air force, a number of coastal defence vessels, several marine units and 10 to 20 auxiliary vessels.



The main Eastern Sea Fleet contains China's only super-carrier, the Tianjin.

The navy includes a 25,000 strong Marine Corps (organised into five brigades), a 46,000 strong Naval Air Force operating over two thousand helicopters, drones and fixed-wing aircraft, plus a 25,000 strong Coastal Defence Force.

Air Force
The 620,000 strong People's Liberation Army Air Force is organised into five Theater Command Air Forces (TCAF) and 42 air divisions. The largest operational units within the Aviation Corps is the air division, which has 2 to 3 aviation regiments, each with 20 to 36 aircraft. The surface-to-air missile (SAM) Corps is organised into SAM divisions and brigades. There are also four airborne divisions manned by the PLAAF.

Rocket Force
The People's Liberation Army Rocket Force is the main strategic missile force of the PLA. It controls China's nuclear, conventional strategic and defence missiles. China's total nuclear arsenal size is estimated to be between 500 and 750 thermonuclear warheads and an additional 20 to 50 fusion devices. The PLARF has approximately 300,000 personnel and 12 ballistic missile divisions (missile corps bases). The 12 divisions are independently deployed in different theatre commands and have a total of 15 to 20 missile brigades.

Strategic Support Force
Founded on December 31, 2015 as part of the first wave of reforms of the PLA, the People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force a combination of all support forces, that includes high-tech operations forces such as space, cyberspace and electronic warfare operations units, independent of other branches of the military.

Given its nature the PLASSF is highly secretive however it is estimated it has around 60,000 personnel. Speculation about the divisions possible breach of the Outer Space Treaty have been popular with many conspiracy theorists and western journalists alike however nothing has of yet been proven.