PLA Uniforms & Kit

Yes, Those are pretty much rip offs of what American soldiers wear. I would know, I have a pair of the same ones.

anyone find anymore pic of this "new" uniform?

i wonder what china PLA is up to.hmmmm

If true, it'll be such a "great leap forward" in infantry equipment for PLA

Originally Posted by kw64

If true, it'll be such a "great leap forward" in infantry equipment for PLA

Or maybe not - we've seen some modernish designs being tested for years, and they all seem to vanish into testingland. Even if true, this may just be another such suite.

i think its a northern alliance camouflage,i think

the pattern looks very similar

It could just be another uniform and gear test sample. Everyone should try to check out this site of the PAP's new uniforms and gear. They're using the Cheg Feng and what looks like body armour with modular equipment loops. I don't know if it's in the testing phase or has become general issue.

http://china-military.blogspot.com/2...s-special.html

Originally Posted by kw64

If true, it'll be such a "great leap forward" in infantry equipment for PLA

how is this a great leap foward??? china has better uniforms and protection then this in service already. its just appearance doesn't make a great leap foward. look at SDU they wear just casual clothes sometimes instead of the black tactical uniform.

I thought maybe we could discuss the aesthetic aspect to the People's Liberation Army. The classical Greeks believed your soul is only as beautiful as your looks. The Roman military was renowned for both its professionalism as well as the extravagant legionnaire uniform. The Red Coats during the height of the British Empire also looked fashionable to its time. So were the uniforms of Qin, Han, Tung/Tang (depends on which regional spelling), and Ming dynasties of ancient China. It is the same story when we look at modern military, both WWII and current German uniforms (maybe not powerful, but definitely still the most elite), current US uniforms, and many others. Perhaps we can say that all powerful and elite military should have a great looking uniform. Similar to what the Greeks have said, the looks of a military reflects the degree of attention and dedication from its government and organiser.

Looking at today's PLA uniforms, we have to admit they no longer look extremely ugly as compared to the old puffy jackets styled similar to the Michelin logo, but we still can't say that it looks great when compared to many Western counterparts.

A military's uniform also builds an image into the citizens that see it. When we look the American uniform or even South Korean uniform, even for a child or housewife that doesn't know a thing about war, he/she would at least knows the uniform looks super nice, and that it is modern and well designed. This would create a positive image in peoples' minds. On the contrary, when we see the old uniforms of the USSR, it would give us the feel of swarm of evil yellow-coated Red Army soldiers running towards you, each armed with a Kalashnikov in their hands. Perhaps even PLA's uniform was like that just short ten years ago and today's DPRK still dresses its troops like that. No wonder people in the West still think they are evil.

I know that I greatly exaggerated the uniform factor, but we cannot doubt the fact that it is very important to a nation's image, both domestically and internally abroad. Since today's PRC tries very hard to improve its international image, especially in trying hard to counteract against the China-Threat rumor, I believe updating and revising the current uniforms is a cheap and quick alternative to donate billions of dollars abroad. On the other hand, it would be much cheaper than advertising and creating posters to draft young talents. Many young men would simply join just because the uniforms look nice. Believe it or not, I have heard of many cases of young men joining the navy because the white uniforms look nice.

It's not just the uniforms are outdated, but also those small unnoticeable gears, such as helmets, magazines vests/all in one combat vests, drinking apparatus, small gun holster, watches, radio, protective eye wear, night vision, backpacks, gloves, bullet proff vest, and etc. If look at those equipments the typical PLA soldiers are using, they either simply don't have it, or it is just not well designed, or not even designed properly.

Here's some PLA and other military uniforms.

This is a very recent picture. This amount of small pouches on you would make you want to throw everything off, after just 5 minutes of running.

If you guys look closely, you can see the WWII style gun holster. Not saying its bad or anything, but it just look outdated and anti-fashion.

This picture tell a thousand words. Supposedly this is one of the most elite division in the PLA, yet there is still no gloves, knee pads, the helmets don't fit properly (I can even still see metal helmets), no protective eye wear (those of you ever done anything cross country probably agree with me on the importance of protective eye wear), no radio, no ballistic vest. There's no camelbak, instead, old school kettles are used. There are at least 5 pouches that I count per soldier, they should really put some effort into designing a better all-in-one backpack that can integrate with the magazine vest and the rest of the gears.

Here's some typical Uncle Sam equipements;



Not trying to downplay the PLA, but it is a true that even SOF soldiers in the PLA are not as well equipped as this. Yet, this is STANDARD combat equipment that you find on every soldier.

And some Heer pictures from Deutschland



borrowed from BDpopeye


Everything is there, but well integrated. Looks nice too.

More PLAAF Pictures

Tell the truth, even the racing suit and helmet I wore during Formula BMW when I was 15 looked better than this.....

The helmets look like they were worn by the tank men of Waffen SS of WWII.

WWII style holster

Here's some other countries

Modern Red Coats

A deceased commander of the M1A2

On the side note, I just read this from a Chinese site,

开展模拟训练，既节约了训练成本，又提高了训练效益，实现了‘双赢’。”该团团长姜明华对记者说，“一辆重 型坦克重几十吨，功率数百马力，这么重的家伙要跑起来，得用不少油！”随后，他跟记者算了一笔账:实车训练 1小时需要消耗近40升柴油，再加上发动机、变速箱等大部件的损耗，某新型坦克每摩托小时至少消耗超过7000余元，1个驾驶员新训下来，至少需要35个摩托小时

It meant "a certain model" (typical of PLA, all military news in China use certain model, certain base, certain unit, never use any specific info) of new tank costs more than 7000RMB to run for just an hour, which in todays currency is about $1500. I guess they probably meant the latest variants of Type 99. I wonder how much it would be for Leopard II, Abrams, Merkova, and Leclerc.

I also saw this pic from that page


Won't the round be trapped by that? Won't the slope guide the round to break into the seal?

When I was trying to find JSDF uniforms on google, I saw this.



Not trying to be racist, but somehow this looked really funny.

Originally Posted by pugachev_diver

Perhaps even PLA's uniform was like that just short ten years ago and today's DPRK still dresses its troops like that. No wonder people in the West still think they are evil.

HAHAHAHAHAH HAHAHAHAHAA!
Oh man I fell off my chair laughing until my stomach hurts.
You are spot on, it couldn't be more true. Those ugly, "oppressive" looking dreary brown coats and fur hats, really makes people looking at it feeling depressed. I am sure people wearing it must felt 100 times worse.

While I think aesthetics for a combat uniform is not really an issue, but I think FORM FOLLOW FUNCTION should strictly be adhere. A highly functional, efficient combat uniform will look aesthetically pleasing naturally. A huge brown overcoat like the DPRK borderguard sports, while functional, but its not combat effective. It restricts the mobility and agility of the soldier. And just looking at it, people knows subconciously.


I think this is one area that asians in general are not putting too much emphasis on. Even Japan, the most advanced country in the world (not to mention in asia) has one of the ugliest combat uniform in developed countries. Their army uniform looks dated (following the american 80's design paradigm) - with lots of straps, pads and superfluous what-nots.




BTW, is this guy for real? He looks like he is the panzer crew straight out of WWII!!





I think PLA uniform seriously needs some re-designing.
Even American paratrooper of WWII looks better and better equipped (and better trained?!) than current PLA elite units (Remember the M1 Garand has massive stopping power and it was later developed into M-14 which is still in use today as sniper rifle with maximum effective range of over 800 meters - compare to the QBZ-95 of 400 meters)





That's right, I think even the best PLA units can't even fight WWII american paratrooper some 50 years ago!!

BTW, is this guy for real? He looks like he is the panzer crew straight out of WWII!!

Yes he is.. if you'd check the World Armed Forces Pictures thread you'd know the caption sez..

Troops of the 37th Armoured Infantry Brigade (37. Panzergrenadierbrigade) await the arrival of new German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere at the Bundeswehr combat training center on March 9, 2011 in Letzlingen, Germany. De Maiziere succeeds Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and faces the complex task of carrying through much-needed reforms of the German armed forces.