Self Propelled Gun/Rocket Launcher

Artillery's has always been the strong suit of Chinese army since ancient time. Again and again Chinese army use it extensively in Imjin war, Japan-China war, Civil war, Korea, Vietnam-China war etc. No surprise that in modern time it the first thing that they modernized now with precision guidance and UAV spotter. Yup anything within 300 km radius is minced meat. So I wonder why Indian built air base close to LAV. They will be first hit when thing got hot

Hendrik_2000 said:

Artillery's has always been the strong suit of Chinese army since ancient time. Again and again Chinese army use it extensively in Imjin war, Japan-China war, Civil war, Korea, Vietnam-China war etc. No surprise that in modern time it the first thing that they modernized now with precision guidance and UAV spotter. Yup anything within 300 km radius is minced meat. So I wonder why Indian built air base close to LAV. They will be first hit when thing got hot

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China has also built up plenty of airfields (extensions to existing ones and new one planned) along with plenty of army bases. All would be targeted by Indian artillery and missiles during initial exchange. This isn't the reason to not build them. You can still intercept attacks and they offer a layer of resistance. The logic of not deploying forwards would be like saying there's no point making the armour of a MBT thicker because that new outer layer would only just get damaged once it is attacked.

Same reason as China building islands in SCS even though US can easily destroy the military equipment and positions on them. They are all there as resistance and a basis to launch initial attacks as well. A chess player who wouldn't advance any pawns in an opening is only doing themselves a disservice. Those pawns are there to be lost but do play an important part in your overall strategy. How well they will work however is entirely dependent on the forces, how well they are used, and what the adversary has and does.

ougoah said:

PLA seems to have more artillery pieces, varieties, and platforms than the rest of the world combined. The capability also seems to be world leading thanks to western militaries placing much smaller emphasis on artillery due to the kinds of wars they have been fighting during the turn of the century and indeed the 21st century. Excalibur and other guided rounds? lol China has many guided artillery types and can make them 10 times faster, 100 times cheaper.

Artillery is regarded by PLA as the backbone of land warfare and land war is the backbone of all warfare. They've realised how inappropriate this attitude is after watching the US pick apart middle eastern militaries using superior networked warfare built on the back of air, naval, space, and digital superiority. Well the PLA was never a slouch in those domains but certainly had much room to catch up back in the 1990s.

PLA's artillery capabilities are so impressive they don't really even need to expend any expensive missiles or guided ordinance within a 300km fighting range. PLA basically has highly capable, cheap and abundant ballistic missile effectiveness within a 300km range as long as artillery units can be deployed.

Months back I watched a clip of PLA guided artillery hitting moving targets from 150km or so. Slamming through the moving target boards like ballistic missiles with close to zero CEP.

Even those long range large MLRS look like they have CEP within metres. Insanely impressive especially if they can do this at all terrains and throw hundreds at targets.

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Funny, because this is the “rationalized” artillery force. Just maybe as little as 10 years ago you had 105mm, 122mm, 130mm, 152mm, and 155mm. Not to mention rockets and mortars.

Now I think (all?) towed guns are being replaced by the PCL series and there will be 122 and 155 only (though 105 has been exported to Nigeria).

There is a cost issue with guided artillery rounds. Cost is what killed ERGM and AGS for the US Navy (ERGM was a poor performer as well), and Excalibur rounds are 6 figures each. If we consider the Indian border and Taiwan as the two major flash points, then we can see why artillery investment is so valuable.

In the Taiwan case, if you can hit targets on the island from the mainland at a low cost, then what hope would there be for foreign intervention?

Good night.

ougoah said:

China has also built up plenty of airfields (extensions to existing ones and new one planned) along with plenty of army bases. All would be targeted by Indian artillery and missiles during initial exchange. This isn't the reason to not build them. You can still intercept attacks and they offer a layer of resistance. The logic of not deploying forwards would be like saying there's no point making the armour of a MBT thicker because that new outer layer would only just get damaged once it is attacked.

Same reason as China building islands in SCS even though US can easily destroy the military equipment and positions on them. They are all there as resistance and a basis to launch initial attacks as well. A chess player who wouldn't advance any pawns in an opening is only doing themselves a disservice. Those pawns are there to be lost but do play an important part in your overall strategy. How well they will work however is entirely dependent on the forces, how well they are used, and what the adversary has and does.

Click to expand...

Well as far as I know the only Chinese airbase close to the border in in Nyingchi But the rest is out of reach of Indian Artillery's except maybe for Brahmo and long range MLRS. But of course they are all vulnerable to air attack. But they will get shot as soon as they cross the border. since China has good radar coverage all along the border. And air defence missile are spread along the border. The main bases are all in Xinjiang and Qinghai Hotan, Kashgar and Golmud. forward air base are Lhasa Gonggar, Shigatze, Ngari Gunsa roughly 150 km to the border. Smerch MLRS which India have has a range of 100-135 Km

China building air base in SCS act like a tripwire and improve china's situation awareness and snooping and air and naval activity of the foe Yes it is static and in theory it can be attacked But by building in triangle formation each of the airbase can provide mutual support I am not sure if it is easy to overcome them




The Kashgar airbase, approximately 475km from Eastern Ladakh, is the farthest from Indian borders. The recent is seen as a direct strategic manoeuvre against India.

The dual-use airbase with 3,200m runway has seen apron expansions, new large hangars possibly for H-6 bombers and airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft and 12x hardened aircraft shelters for fighters.



Hotan Airbase

Though the Hotan airbase is a dual-use airport, recent developments indicate it has been converted to military use only.

The airbase has seen new AEW aircraft deployment along with J-8 and J-11 aircraft. New UAV hangars with CH-4 UAVs have been observed after the Doklam standoff.

Large construction has been seen at this airbase for troops and improvement in the ammunition point located there. Recent reports suggest that PLAAF J-20 stealth aircraft were deployed here, although just for two days.



Ngari Gunsa Airbase

The airbase barely 125km from Indian borders has seen small detachments of fighters and helicopters. The airbase has been used for various aircraft trials since it has one of the longest runways of almost 4.5km.

Recently, during a medical exercise, a dummy patient was carried from Ngari town in a helicopter to this airport and further sent to Qionglai in a Y-9 air ambulance of the PLAAF.



Shigatse Airbase

This dual-use airport was converted to an airbase with a stoppage of civil flights after the Doklam standoff.

This airport has seen a new deployment of UAVs with a brand new airstrip for them. New movable hangars have been observed at the eastern end of the airbase.

New aprons for helicopters and a new hangar for possible AEW aircraft are also observe

Precision.

I believe the outer two gun assemblies are for PCL-161s, which you can see in the background.

Off-roading.

Artillery observation, communications, and command vehicles based on the Mengshi-III. These vehicles usually accompany the new PCL-181, PCL-171, and PCL-161 self-propelled howitzers.

Observation vehicle:


Communications vehicle:


Interior of the command vehicle:

A neat video including a (new?) drone being used.