Infantry Combat Equipment (non-firearm): Vests, Body Armor, NVGs, etc.
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If you don't mind, is the documentary covering the special operations force or regular infantry of the PLAGF? Based on what I saw in the past, during training, most of the regular infantry seem to never receive upgrades to their personal equipment.
特战 so I think some kind of special forces unit. Issuing new equipment for the whole PLA is a costly undertaking yet gives only marginal improvement to their capabilities and runs contrary to the current grand strategy. Money would be better spent on buying things like new ships and planes and training while issuing small number of best available equipment to selected groups. Another reason would be gears like this are usually manufactured by the private sector, which is only starting to grow.
From what I see, China is putting majority of is investments into developing high end weaponry that will take years to finalise or even more than a decade. The flashy carriers and destroyers are included but also electronic warfare, cyber-warfare, and space warfare capabilities. China is also preparing to place assets overseas. The next decade or two would be transformation for the PLA. By then we won't be able to recognise it with today's image in mind.
The grunts are getting an upgrade too but at a slow pace. China set a goal to be fully motorised and armoured by 2020. The new dongfeng vehicle family look quite different from the previous models. IIRC it is a modular system. I expect the cool looking tactical equipment to be the last element to be fully equipped. It's going to be a long wait. China is building up and forward deploying two main groups of troops, Marines and UN Peacekeepers. The marine corp is set to expand from 20k to 100k and China pledged 8000 UN peacekeepers not to long ago, up from the current 2600.
China's ground forces are mainly for the defence of the homeland and stationed at home, from the looks of it, special forces included, unless they are an anti-terror unit which would likely have drills and operations overseas. The new equipment would likely be tested and equipped in larger numbers by the Marines deployed overseas, starting in Djibouti.
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The patch on the soldiers wearing black indicate they are Marines
PLA Marine Corps patch
The soldiers wearing black are more heavily equipped and armoured than those wearing blue uniforms. Their armour consists of a plate carrier with crotch protection.
The patch on the soldiers wearing black indicate they are Marines
PLA Marine Corps patch
The soldiers wearing black are more heavily equipped and armoured than those wearing blue uniforms. Their armour consists of a plate carrier with crotch protection.
SinoSoldier
Colonel
From the recent police exhibition (allegedly):
PiSigma
"the engineer"
These are the troops posted to doklam last years ready for combat.
wondering if those vests could stop a direct hit from 5.56mm NATO