Joint-Arms Combat Operation ability, is China up tio date ??

Norfolk

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Not sure whether it's so much the PLA's concentration on the Regimental-level as what it has expected each tactical-level to do. True enough, Eastern Armies in general tend to use Regiments in much the same way as Western Armies generally use Battalions. But then, the Germans retained the Regimental-level and did not bother with the Brigade-level expect in extraordinary cases; and of course, the Germans were the masters of tactical-level combined-arms warfare. To develop that point a little further, the Germans recognized that the commander of an Armoured Regiment had the specialized training, experience, and knowledge (not to mention particular temperament) best suited for leading tactical-level armour-heavy combined-arms operations. As such, the Armoured Regiment in an Armoured Division normally lent itself (or its constitutent Armoured Battalions) to task-organizing as a Battle Group(s) for such operations; conversely, as the commanders of the two Infantry Regiments usually possessed the best skills for handling combined-arms operations requiring the holdign of ground, clearing of enemy positions, or fighting in close country, those Regiments (or their constituent Battalions) of course formed the basis of Battle Groups task-organized for such operations. In short, my argument is that by seeking to replace the Regiment and Division structures with Brigade and the latest Group Army structures, the PLA has actually introduced a structural impediment to its mastering of tactical-level combined-arms warfare.

I would argue that there is probably an undue emphasis upon "Modularity" these days in many Armies, that there is a doctrinal predilection to see Battalions as "plug n'play" add-ons to rather amorphous Brigades. This is a mistake. Mixing-and-matching beers (when beer retailers are so willing) is great; mixing and matching Battalions from different Regiments and Brigades who have infrequent or no permanent working associations is just asking for trouble. This is all the greater a problem when those Regiments or Brigades are from very different-type Formations, such as slotting an Armoured Battalion (from an Armoured or Mechanized Infantry Brigade) into a Light Infantry Brigade, or an Air Assault Infantry Battalion into an Armoured Brigade. The tankers are thinking, anticipating, and working in terms at 25 km/h; the Light Infantry are thinking, anticipating, and working in terms of 4 km/h. And this does not even address the matter of the very different tasks and roles between different type-Formations which in turn affect the way their constituent Battalions "work".
 
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