BEIJING – China has equipped a branch of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)deployed along the Indian border with a powerful US-style integratedindividual soldier combat system to prepare for a future “informatisedwarfare”, a media report has said.
Informatised warfare, a term widely used by the Chinese military in recentyears refers to the use of IT, digital and artificial intelligenceapplications in battlefield conditions.
The Sky Wolf Commandos, a branch of the PLA Special Operations Forces fromthe Western Theatre Command, have been equipped with the QTS-11 system intheir training, Weihutang, a column affiliated with the China CentralTelevision (CCTV), reported. The Western Theatre Command looks after thesecurity along the 3,488 km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India.
The QTS-11 system, according to Chinese experts, is similar to the onebeing used by US soldiers. Hailed as the “strongest individual firepower inthe world”, the QTS-11 system not only contains firearms but also a fulldigitalised integrated individual soldier combat system, includingdetection and communications, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military experttold state-run Global Times.
The system, which includes an assault rifle and 20-millimeter grenadelauncher, is capable of destroying antipersonnel targets. Each soldierequipped with the system is armed with a thermal imager and optoelectronicand positioning systems, the Global Times quoted a report by Science andTechnology Daily. QTS-11 system weighs up to seven kgs.
“The individual soldier combat system is only part of the digitalised army,something countries are attempting to do. Developing the integratedindividual soldier combat system adapts to informatized warfare in thefuture,” Song said.
“QTS-11 systems of the US and China are similar but not comparable. Thesystem’s capability depends on how it is used,” Song said.
Special operations forces are the first to have a taste of the QTS-11system before the system would be widely equipped into other forces. Thesystem is also very expensive, Song said.
The announcement by the official media of the deployment of new systemalong the border with India followed a report a few days ago of theupgrading the air defences along the LAC was seen by military observershere as a psychological warfare being resorted to by the PLA.
The Global Times earlier quoted an expert as saying the upgradation of theair defence with deployment of fighter jets like J-10 and J-11 is aimed at“confronting any threat from India” in the light of India acquiring newfighter aircraft, an apparent reference to Rafale aircraft.
The Chinese military carried out a media blitzkrieg during the height oflast year’s 73-day Dokalam standoff highlighting deployment of new battletank as well as massive military exercises on the Tibetan plateau.
The standoff over PLA’s attempts to build a road close to the strategicnarrow Chicken Neck corridor in North East ended after the Chinese militarystopped the road building in the area which is also claimed by Bhutan.
The integrated combat system was firstly developed by the US but they havedropped the research of Objective Individual Combat Weaponry system due toweight problems.