Goodbye Second Artillery Force; hello PLA Rocket Force
On
December 31, China inaugurated three new military
forces: a general command for the army, the People’s Liberation Army
(PLA) Strategic Support Force, and the PLA Rocket Force. The latter, which
replaces the Second Artillery Force, will be in charge of China’s nuclear
arsenal.
General
Wei Fenghe was named the new force’s first commander. Wei has a long history
with the Second Artillery Force; he served as its chief of staff from 2006-2012
and then as commander-in-chief from 2012 until the service was reconfigured as
the Rocket Force.
The
creation of the Rocket Force is part of a larger move to restructure China’s
military with a streamlined command under the direct control of the
Central Military Commission. The new force is considered the fourth branch in
China’s military, on equal footing with the PLA Army, Navy, and Air Force, according to Global Times.
Unlike the Second Artillery Corps, the Rocket Force will command all three legs
of China’s nuclear triad, rather than just controlling land-based nuclear
missiles. The Rocket Force will also be in charge of conventional missiles. Global
Times reported that the force has already held its first drills, practicing
mobile combat operations and missile launches.
In the
inauguration ceremony on Thursday, President Xi Jinping (who is also chairman
of the Central Military Commission) called the PLA Rocket Force
the “core force of strategic deterrence, a strategic buttress to the country’s
position as a major power, and an important building block in upholding
national security.” He tasked the new force with enhancing China’s nuclear
deterrence and counter-strike capabilities, and thus maintaining a strategic
balance. He also urged the Rocket Force to improve China’s ability to conduct
medium- and long-range precision strikes.
Yang
Yujun, spokesperson for China’s Defense Ministry, emphasized on Friday that
China’s nuclear policy and strategy will not change under the PLA Rocket Force.
China remains committed to its no-first-use policy on nuclear weapons, and will
keep its “nuclear capability at the minimum level required for safeguarding its
national security,” Xinhua paraphrased Yang as
saying.
According
to the U.S. Department of Defense’s 2015 report on the Chinese
military, the Second Artillery Force had 50 to 60 inter-continental ballistic
missiles. Meanwhile, China was devoting more energy to developing sea-based
nuclear platforms, such as the Jin-class nuclear ballistic missile
submarines (SSBNs).
As the
report notes, “Further increases in the number of mobile ICBMs and the beginning
of SSBN deterrence patrols will force the PLA to implement more sophisticated
command and control systems and processes that safeguard the integrity of
nuclear release authority for a larger, more dispersed force.” The creation of
the PLA Rocket Force may herald further changes to China’s command and control
systems for nuclear forces.
Undoubtedly Kerry since you began as a scribe on Australian PM's VIP Flights, till Military Attache in Indonesia and our first meeting in Your started Australian Business Association Saigon and your delightfup multi-story Foreign residence hotel and out meetings in rooftop restaurant etc. You know a lot more than he here quotes I bet. Still Teizzi does give an insight worth remembering is it any wonder WALLSTREET crashed last night when PRC announced their worst moves.
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