Bullet proof vests in the Chinese military

I have all those links and pics en masse. But this forum wants me to have 10 posts or more to actually let me post them.

In the previous reply I've already planned to include them, but too bad, I still need to "spam" a bit...

If I can get 10 posts, I will post them here later on. Stay tuned.

I think the PLA body armor issue has been discussed already, I think in "PLA small arms" or something.
Armor is useful only if there is a conflict somewhere such that PLA soldiers see action and has the risk of being involved in a firefight. China is currently not in any conflicts therefore the soldiers don't really need real armor of any sort.
Bullet proof vests do have a shelf life and they do need maintenance. And the weight of the armor could be substituted by something else a lot cheaper for training and exercises. If China gets involved in a conflict in the future that requires PLA soldiers to wear armor, then it is sufficient enough to buy/mass produce them then.

muddie said:

I think the PLA body armor issue has been discussed already, I think in "PLA small arms" or something.
Armor is useful only if there is a conflict somewhere such that PLA soldiers see action and has the risk of being involved in a firefight. China is currently not in any conflicts therefore the soldiers don't really need real armor of any sort.
Bullet proof vests do have a shelf life and they do need maintenance. And the weight of the armor could be substituted by something else a lot cheaper for training and exercises. If China gets involved in a conflict in the future that requires PLA soldiers to wear armor, then it is sufficient enough to buy/mass produce them then.

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Keep dreaming. If your not going to practice with them your not going to be effective in combat with them. Plus, there will be lag time between wanting to buy/produce the armor and actually getting them. In the mean time your guys will be getting shot up and blown up all over the place.

Wow, really? I never heard of any military training or exercise where soldiers stand in a line with body armor and get shot at to feel what its like to be shot with armor on.

PeoplesPoster said:

Keep dreaming. If your not going to practice with them your not going to be effective in combat with them. Plus, there will be lag time between wanting to buy/produce the armor and actually getting them. In the mean time your guys will be getting shot up and blown up all over the place.

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What do you mean by saying "you guys"? You should know that members of this forum are very diverse in their nationalities. In fact, I would say most are not Chinese. Just because someone is defending the Chinese, it doesn't make them Chinese and it certainly does not warrant the curse being "shot up and blown up". So stop the personal attacks.

Back to the body armor discussion. The PLA is no dumba$$. They also has a lot money at their disposal. If they decided not to issue body armor to their average troops, there must be a reason for it. I would think the decision had been made in a much more informed fashion than us the armchair generals. I guess it must have something to do with their own strategies and battlefield tactics.

vesicles said:

What do you mean by saying "you guys"? You should know that members of this forum are very diverse in their nationalities. In fact, I would say most are not Chinese. Just because someone is defending the Chinese, it doesn't make them Chinese and it certainly does not warrant the curse being "shot up and blown up". So stop the personal attacks.

Back to the body armor discussion. The PLA is no dumba$$. They also has a lot money at their disposal. If they decided not to issue body armor to their average troops, there must be a reason for it. I would think the decision had been made in a much more informed fashion than us the armchair generals. I guess it must have something to do with their own strategies and battlefield tactics.

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I think I have seen the PLA running and training with small sandbags strapped to their torso and legs to simulate the weight of combat gear. It's in pictures and TV shows of the PLA.

Similar to those shown here:

jobjed said:

I think I have seen the PLA running and training with small sandbags strapped to their torso and legs to simulate the weight of combat gear. It's in pictures and TV shows of the PLA.

Similar to those shown here:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Click to expand...

Well, these sandbags are actually used for marching trainings, not combat training. The weight is put on the legs so that the legs can be more steady during an actual march.

---------- Post added at 06:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:37 PM ----------

jobjed said:

I think I have seen the PLA running and training with small sandbags strapped to their torso and legs to simulate the weight of combat gear. It's in pictures and TV shows of the PLA.

Similar to those shown here:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Click to expand...

Well, these sandbags are actually used for marching trainings, not combat training. The weight is put on the legs so that the legs can be more steady during an actual march.

vesicles said:

What do you mean by saying "you guys"? You should know that members of this forum are very diverse in their nationalities. In fact, I would say most are not Chinese. Just because someone is defending the Chinese, it doesn't make them Chinese and it certainly does not warrant the curse being "shot up and blown up". So stop the personal attacks.

Back to the body armor discussion. The PLA is no dumba$$. They also has a lot money at their disposal. If they decided not to issue body armor to their average troops, there must be a reason for it. I would think the decision had been made in a much more informed fashion than us the armchair generals. I guess it must have something to do with their own strategies and battlefield tactics.

Click to expand...

This is how I understood it. Him saying "Your guys" in this context is a tone that references the hypothetical soldiers in the situation outlined by the other party. In this case, the camp that's rationalizing training without body armor. It's a pretty common sort of informal tone that I hear used all the time. For example, in a discussion, someone will say something like, "Oh, well, meanwhile your guys would be... bla bla bla." Pretty sure it wasn't a personal attack.

WRT to the lack of body armor being part of some tactic, I think that's certainly possible. Another possibility may be that the PLA is still undergoing their modernization, and they simply haven't settled on a body armor type they want to mass produce. Or maybe it's still on the list of to-do's. I think either are probably more likely than this being the result of some unique strategy or an effort to prolong the shelf life of their equipment. Since, if that were the case, why bother training with helmets, or anything?


EDIT:

muddie said:

Wow, really? I never heard of any military training or exercise where soldiers stand in a line with body armor and get shot at to feel what its like to be shot with armor on.

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This is sort of facetious. I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect someone to train in precisely the layout they're expected to perform in should the "real thing" arise. No one's asking anyone to go around shooting soldiers in training.

Hmmm... Though there was that one grenade pass exercise that everyone's seen... (Just kidding.)

kyanges said:

This is how I understood it. Him saying "Your guys" in this context is a tone that references the hypothetical soldiers in the situation outlined by the other party. In this case, the camp that's rationalizing training without body armor. It's a pretty common sort of informal tone that I hear used all the time. For example, in a discussion, someone will say something like, "Oh, well, meanwhile your guys would be... bla bla bla." Pretty sure it wasn't a personal attack.

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Heh, I think vesicles read you guys will be getting shot up and blown up all over the place instead of your guys will be getting shot up and blown up all over the place. A single letter's difference changes the meaning entirely.

However, I would like PeoplesPoster to elaborate on how exactly one would go about training to be more effective with body armor.

vesicles said:

Well, these sandbags are actually used for marching trainings, not combat training. The weight is put on the legs so that the legs can be more steady during an actual march.

---------- Post added at 06:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:37 PM ----------



Well, these sandbags are actually used for marching trainings, not combat training. The weight is put on the legs so that the legs can be more steady during an actual march.

Click to expand...

Like I said, it was similar to those, their uses are versatile and not just limited to march training. The PLA uses them when they run in addition to torso weights. Anyone seen 'Soldier Sortie'? It was in a scene of that show.