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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Blue team defeats China's PLA in war games |
| 2014-09-03 |
| China's formidable People's Liberation Army (PLA) had some bitter lessons from a recent war drill, where they were defeated in six out of seven battles by an "opposing force," a media report said on Sunday. The drills pitted for the first time PLA's 'red' teams from seven military area commands against the 'blue' team, or the "opposing force", playing the enemy, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The country's first permanent professional "opposing force", an infantry brigade from Beijing Military Area Command, was the rival during the exercise which ended on Monday, a report in Sunday's People's Daily said. Before the exercise commenced, no one was sure about the outcome, it said. In the end, however, the blue team won six out of seven battles, defeating every area command except Shenyang, Xinhua said. The exercises were aimed at toughening up the PLA troops by making soldiers practice as if they were fighting a real war has offered valuable new training methods, it said. Unlike previous exercises, which were usually scripted, this year's exercise was "for real". Wan Fazhong, brigade commander of a 'red' team from Lanzhou Military Area Command said that the exercise was the first step for the army to become combat-ready. "The more the opposing force resembles the enemy, the more we can toughen up our combat capabilities," Wan said. Earlier Col Geng Yansheng, a ministry of defense spokesman, said China has established its first professional "opposing force" and that it was an important step to strengthen real combat training. Geng said what kind of enemy the "opposing force" would play will be decided by the purpose and content of the training. |
| Posted by:Theting Glasing4448 |
| #4 This is actually quite a troubling development. The Chinese do not like losing face, and yet they put their first rate units into a training exercise where they got their butt's kicked. It seems they are suddenly serious about land combat, which is a new thing. Now why is that? Not the U.S. for sure we have been there all along, but perhaps Vietnam? Korea? Russia? India? I am thinking Vietnam, based on their recent spat, but relations with Korea and India are kind of a mess right now too. |
| Posted by: rammer 2014-09-03 22:15 |
| #3 Ima thinking the Opfor is equipped with Abrahms and MLRS. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-09-03 18:18 |
| #2 The Opfor (like at the NTC) is rolling and training 6+ times a year. The 'red' teams get to do this about every second or third year. There's going to be a competency difference in execution regardless. Training and team building are an effectiveness multiplier. Period. The more you do, the better you get. Hasn't changed in thousands of years. Their drills are bloodless battles, and their battles bloody drills. - Flavius Josephus, Jewish Historian, AD 37-101, on the Roman military |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2014-09-03 08:26 |
| #1 Bet the Opfor got some good stuff. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-09-03 08:16 |