Dharamshala, 8th September: Chinese fighter jets dropped missiles, infantry took down drones, and ground force howitzers performed pinpoint hits. Several units from the People’s Liberation Army’s Tibet Military District were shown occupying an enemy’s important command center at an altitude of 4,700 meters in footage broadcast on the PLA Daily website on Monday.
The video indicated that infantry, artillery, army aviation, special operations forces, electronic warfare, engineers, and chemical defense groups participated in the training, but did not specify when it took place. It was intended to test the capabilities of the various troops to work together as well as the usage of new weaponry systems that had recently been delivered to the region.
In the video, PLA air defense artillery units shoot down drones that look like Indian spy gadgets, air force fighter planes drop missiles to disable an enemy command center, and ground force artillery fires precision attacks on a field. It also shows PLA airborne forces immediately taking the enemy’s major command headquarters, with artillery, intelligence, air force, and other combat units providing protection and assistance.
According to Zhou Chenming, a researcher at Beijing’s Yuan Wang military science and technology institution, the Indian military uses spy drones for observation over Chinese territory, thus exercises in Tibet to simulate such invasions are part of routine training.
The Tibet Military District, the PLA’s Himalayan fighting force, was originally thought to be lagging behind in the PLA’s decades-long modernization program. However, recent border clashes with India, notably a deadly skirmish in the Galwan Valley last June, have necessitated hardware improvements in the remote region.
According to a PLA Daily report from January, the PLA has deployed more than 30 new military systems to the area in recent years. The military area, it added, has created at least ten air defense and offense combat scenarios to help personnel adjust to the advanced equipment and harsh conditions during regular training.
Photo: Handout