Missile troops represent the most classified type of PLAThe type of PLA, formerly known as the "Second Artillery" or "Second Artillery Corps", is the Chinese equivalent of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN).
It includes ground-based nuclear deterrence forces (SNF). At the beginning of 2016, this type of troops was officially renamed the PLA Missile Forces.
Data on Missile forces are completely classified by the Chinese side, which traditionally does not provide any official data on the number of missiles and combat units (warheads).
STRUCTURE OF TROOPSIt is known from various sources that the Missile Forces include missile armies (missile bases).
Each army (base) consists of several brigades. Each brigade includes up to six missile battalions, each battalion is armed with one silo launcher (PU) for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) DF-4 and DF-5.
For all other missiles (mobile), each battalion includes up to three missile companies, which, in turn, can include up to three missile platoons. Depending on the type of mobile missiles, one PU can be armed with either a company or a platoon. Accordingly, the brigade may be armed with from 6 (for mine missiles) to 54 PU; the number of missiles may exceed the number of PU.
Presumably, after the military reform of 2017, all missile brigades began to include six battalions, each of which has three companies. The difference is only in the number of platoons in a company: from one for "big" missiles to three for "small" ones. There is an assumption that if a brigade is equipped with missiles with nuclear warheads, it has half as much PU as if the brigade is equipped with the same missiles with conventional warheads. But this is exactly an assumption.
The headquarters of the 61st Missile Army is located in the city of Huangshan (Anhui Province). It consists of the 611th (Chizhou, Anhui; equipped with medium-range ballistic missiles (BRSD) DF-21 with YABCH), 612th (Jingdezhen, Jiangxi; DF-21A or C), 613th (Shangzhao, Jiangxi; operational and tactical missiles (OTR) DF-15B/C), 614th (Yun'an, Fujian; OTR DF-11A or BRSD DF-17), 615th (Meizhou, Guangdong; OTR DF-11A), 616th (Ganzhou, Jiangxi; DF-15), 617th (Jinhua, Zhejiang; OTR DF-16), 618th (apparently, DF-11) missile brigades.
The headquarters of the 62nd Missile Army is located in Kunming, Yunnan Province. It consists of the 621st (Yibin, Sichuan; DF-21, or DF-26, or DF-31AG ICBM), 622nd (Yuxi, Yunnan; DF-31 with nuclear warheads), 623rd (Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; ground-based cruise missiles (CRNB) DH-10), 624th (Qingyuan, Guangdong; anti-ship missiles (PKR) DF-21D, or CRNB DH-10, and/or OTR DF-16, or DF-26), 625th (Jianshui, Yunnan; DF-21 or DF-26 c YABCH), 626th (Qingyuan, Guangdong; DF-21C/D or DF-26 with YABCH), 627th (Punin, Guangdong; DF-26 or DF-17) missile brigades.
The headquarters of the 63rd Missile Army is located in Huaihua, Hunan Province. It consists of the 631st (Jingzhou, Hubei; six DF-5A/B ICBMs with YABCH), 632nd (Shaoyang, Hunan; DF-31AG ICBMs with YABCH), 633rd (Huitong, Hunan; six DF-5A with YABCH), 634th (Tundao District, Huaihua, Hunan; apparently, the DF-41 ICBM with the YABCH), the 635th (Yichun, Jiangxi; the DN-10 CRNB), the 636th (Shaoguan, Guangdong; the DF-21C or DF-16 BRSD), the 637th missile Brigades.
The headquarters of the 64th Missile Army is located in Lanzhou, Gansu Province. It consists of the 641st (Hancheng, Shaanxi; DF-31A with YABCH), 642nd (Datong, Shanxi; DF-31A with YABCH), 643rd (Tianshui, Gansu; DF-31AG with YABCH), 644th (Hanzhong, Shaanxi; apparently, the DF ICBM-41 with YABCH), 645th (Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region), 646th (Korla, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region; BRSD DF-21B/S or DF-26), 647th (Xining, Qinghai) missile brigades.
The headquarters of the 65th Missile Army is located in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. It consists of the 651st and 654th (both Dalian, Liaoning; BRSD DF-21 and DF-26 with YABCH), 652nd and 655th (Tonghua, Jilin; OTR DF-15 or BRSD/PKR DF-21A/S/D), 653rd and the 656th (Laiu, Shandong; DF-21C/D in the 653rd, ICBM DF-31AG or KRNB DH-10 in the 656th) missile brigades.
The headquarters of the 66th Missile Army is located in Luoyang, Henan Province, where the 664th Missile Brigade with the DF-21C/D BRSD/RCC (or with the DF-31AG ICBM) is deployed. Also in the army, the 661st (Lingbao, Henan; six DF-5B ICBMs with a YABCH), the 662nd (Luanchuan, Henan; six DF-4 and DF-5A ICBMs with a YABCH, possibly replaced by DF-41), the 663rd (Nanyang, Henan; DF ICBMs-31A with YABCH), 665th (Xinxiang, Henan), 666th (Xinyang, Henan; BRSD DF-21C or DF-16 or DF-26) missile brigades.
The 61st Army is in the area of responsibility of the PLA Eastern Command, the 62nd and 63rd - Southern Command, the 64th - Western Command, the 65th – Northern Command, the 66th – Central Command. However, all missile armies are directly subordinate to the Central Military Council, and not to territorial commands.
In addition, there are the 67th (rear, responsible for the storage of warheads; headquarters in Baoji City, Shaanxi Province), 68th (engineering), 69th (training) army. They include six brigades (from the 671st to the 676th, from the 681st to the 686th, from the 691st to the 696th, respectively).
In addition, there is an extensive system of underground tunnels in the Beijing area, built in the interests of Missile Troops. Any number of PU (primarily mobile), missiles and warheads can be located in these tunnels. There is no even approximate information on this score.
technicThe PLA rocket technology was mainly considered in the article "From the Han Dynasty to Xi Jinping" ("HBO", 02.07.21). Here this technique will be considered from a slightly different angle.
The class of ICBMs includes DF-5A/B (range 7.5–15 thousand km, there are from 20 to 50 units on which 70 to 250 nuclear warheads are placed), DF-31/31A (7-12 thousand km, there are at least 60 units, possibly more than 100 with a total number of nuclear Warhead up to 250), DF-4 (5.5–7 thousand km, there are no more than a few units), DF-41 (up to 14 thousand km, there are from 18 to 54 units, on which 54 to 540 nuclear warheads are placed). DF-4 and DF-5 are mine–based, the rest are mobile. All ICBMs are equipped only with nuclear warheads.
The range of the ICBM varies depending on the combat load. The obsolete DF-5 and the DF-31 replacing it are "full-fledged" ICBMs and are designed to hit targets in the United States. At the same time, the DF-31AG became the first Chinese ICBM with a separable warhead (RG) (carries 3-5 warheads). However, the DF-5B ICBMs also have RFGS (from 8 to 10), but there are no more than 36 such ICBMs.
The DF-4 is actually a BRSD designed to hit targets in the European part of the Russian Federation (therefore it has the unofficial name "Moscow rocket") and, theoretically, in Europe. Now it has almost been decommissioned. But the DF-41 ICBM enters service, capable of carrying from three to ten warheads and having a flight range of up to 14 thousand km.
The total number of ICBMs in the PLA Missile Forces ranges from 100 to 200. They host approximately 200 to more than 1 thousand nuclear warheads.
The BRSD class includes DF-3A (flight range – about 3 thousand km), DF-21 (2-3 thousand km, there are about 300 units, of which up to 50 DF-21D), DF-26 (3.5–4 thousand km, there are 90 to 150 units), DF-17 (1.8–2.5 thousand km, at least 50 units). All of them are mobile-based. All BRSD can carry both nuclear and conventional warheads. Apparently, most of them are now deployed in conventional equipment, except for a certain number of DF-21 (about 100 of them are likely to carry a nuclear warhead) and DF-26 (up to 50 of these missiles are most likely deployed in nuclear equipment).
The BRSD are designed to hit targets in the Russian Federation, India, and Japan. The DF-3A has already been decommissioned and replaced with the DF-21, which has several modifications. Including, perhaps, the world's first ballistic missile defense system DF-21D, designed to defeat large surface ships, primarily aircraft carriers. The DF-17 is the carrier of the WU-14 hypersonic combat unit.
The total number of BRSD in the PLA Missile Forces reaches at least 450 (excluding the DF-21D missile Defense system). Of these, up to 150 are likely to carry YABCH, the rest are ordinary.
At the same time, the ground forces of the Eastern ("There is such a job – to reunite the Chinese homeland ", "NWO", 07.10.22) and Southern (" Southern slope of the Chinese Hromada ", "NWO", 14.10.22) commands have one brigade of long-range multiple rocket launchers (MLRS) (1st and 2ndI, respectively), who also have DF-17 missiles in service, their number is unknown there. Apparently, at the moment these are the only missiles that are in service with both the Missile Forces and the PLA ground forces.
To class (O)TR include DF-11 (300-800 km, there are more than 100 missiles), DF-15 (600 km, there are from 100 to 500), DF-16 (800-1000 km, there are from 100 to 200). All rockets are mobile. All of them can carry YABCH, but, apparently, in peacetime they are deployed only in conventional equipment.
The DF-15, DF-11 and the most modern DF-26 missiles in the Missile Forces, as is clear from their deployment, are designed almost exclusively to hit targets in Taiwan. A smaller part of them is directed to the Vladivostok–Ussuriysk area and the Korean Peninsula.
DH-10 cruise missiles have a range of up to 4 thousand km. They were created as a result of the synthesis of the Russian X-55 and American Tomahawks and are a new class of weapons in the Missile Forces. Three missiles are installed on each mobile PU, there are 100-200 PU in total. They are an integral part of a family of ground-, air-, sea- and shore-based cruise missiles. Apparently, in peacetime, all of them are deployed in normal equipment, although they can also carry a YABCH.
A number of sources say that the DF-11, DF-15, DH-10 missiles are also in service with the ground forces, but there is no exact confirmation of this.
It is impossible to establish the number of YABCH, since a significant part of the BRSD, (O)TR and cruise missiles are used in conventional equipment. On the other hand, a large number of YABCH in peacetime is in warehouses. In any case, their number obviously exceeds 300 units only in the expanded state.
As mentioned above, there is no official data on the PLA Missile Forces. Therefore, even the potential of six missile armies can be significantly higher than described here (especially due to stored missiles and warheads).
Taking into account the presence of the mentioned tunnel system, the potential of Missile Forces can be several times higher (several thousand missiles and warheads each), and primarily due to the most modern missiles DF–21, DF-31, DF-16, DF-17, DF-26 and DH-10. At the same time, such tunnels provide the Chinese Strategic Nuclear Forces with much higher combat stability than the US and Russian strategic nuclear forces have.
Of particular importance is the rapid deployment of the DF-41 ICBM. It transfers the PLA Missile Forces to a completely new quality and will allow the Chinese Strategic Nuclear Forces to match their potential with Russian and American ones in a short time. Moreover, other components of the Strategic Nuclear Forces are also developing – underwater (" Arming faster than anyone in the world ", "HBO", 23.07.21) and aerial ("The sky darkens from red dragons ", "HBO", 18.03.22).
Alexander KhramchikhinAlexander Anatolyevich Khramchikhin is an independent military expert.
