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[text/wang ruoyu, columnist of observer.com]

in the development history of the services and arms of the chinese people's liberation army, 1949 was a landmark node.

on april 23 of this year, the east china military region navy was established in baima temple, taizhou, jiangsu province. 40 years later, this day was recognized as the anniversary of the founding of the navy. on november 11, 1949, the leadership organization of the chinese people's liberation army air force was established in beijing.

it can be said that the year of the founding of the people's republic of china was a watershed in the development of the military services. the people's liberation army began to advance rapidly from a traditional army dominated by the army to a modern army composed of land, sea and air forces.

75 years later, 2024 is also an important landmark node.

on april 19 this year, the founding meeting of the information support force of the chinese people's liberation army was held grandly at the bayi building in beijing. a spokesman for the ministry of national defense stated that the chinese people's liberation army has overall formed a new military service under the leadership of the central military commission, including the army, navy, air force, rocket force and other services, as well as the military aerospace force, cyberspace force, information support force, joint logistics support force and other services. military structure layout.

it has been a long journey for 75 years. from the traditional army, navy and air force to the "4+4" new service structure layout, it has gone through an arduous process of exploration and reform, and has also embarked on the track of leap-forward development of informatization and intelligence. looking to the future, the 100-year goal of the founding of the army will be achieved in three years. the services and arms of the people's army will surely show a new look and attitude, and will also have a more modern equipment system.

evolution and upgrade of war forms and combat styles

services are the basic categories within the military divided by main combat areas, missions and equipment. the military services are composed of several main combat arms or professional arms. the force composition is relatively comprehensive and can independently perform a variety of tasks.

the four branches of the people's liberation army - land, sea, air and fire - all have a long history and play an irreplaceable role in safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development interests. among them, the navy is the most "comprehensive". it has surface ships and submarines that other services do not have, as well as a marine corps similar to the army, and a marine corps similar to the air force.naval aviation, and various types of missiles similar to the rocket force, so it is known as the "little three armies".

arms, here specifically refers to strategic arms or "relatively independent arms", are forces that can perform tasks relatively independently in emerging strategic fields and important combat areas, and can also be modularly organized and perform tasks jointly with other services and arms.

for example, the joint logistics support force, one of the four branches of the people's liberation army, is accelerating its integration into the joint combat system in accordance with the requirements of joint operations, joint training, and joint support. therefore, the focus of developing unprofor troops is not to build offensive combat functions, but to strengthen integrated support capabilities.

from the perspective of major militaries around the world, services and arms are never static and will change in response to times and circumstances. the primary factor that determines the existence and abolition of services and arms, development and expansion, shrinkage and mergers, independent operation and attachment to other departments is the changes in the shape of war and combat styles, which is also a decisive factor.

taking the development and growth of the people's air force as an example, the korean war that broke out in 1950 and the subsequentresist us aggression and aid korea, the impact on the new people's air force cannot be overstated. in the early days of the war, the people's air force had only 7 newly established aviation schools and 1 combat unit. its actual combat capabilities were very different from those of the us military. but we quickly introduced a large amount of soviet equipment and launched the world's first large-scale jet war. young air force pilots grew up rapidly on the battlefield. after several years of "building while fighting" and "training and growing in war", by the time the armistice agreement was signed, the people's air force had established 28 divisions and 70 regiments, with more than 3,000 aircraft of various types, becoming an extremely powerful force among the air forces of all countries in the world. combat and deterrent air power. without the advancement of science and technology and the tempering of war, the people's air force would certainly not be able to develop and grow at such a rapid pace.

reconnecting with the explosion of communication equipment such as pagers and walkie-talkies in lebanon that occurred some time ago, as china’s permanent representative to the united nations fu cong said during the security council’s emergency review of the situation in lebanon and israel on september 20, indiscriminate attacks were launched through remote control of communication tools. causing large-scale civilian casualties and creating social panic, such a thing is unheard of in history.

if you dig deeper, this explosion actually demonstrates a new combat style in cyberspace warfare - even if it is an old communication facility such as a pager, explosives are installed in the hardware and left behind in the software. the "backdoor", through remote network control, can produce large-scale explosions and bring more serious panic effects. some experts believe that this incident is a typical example of the integration of cyber warfare and physical warfare principles in today's world conflicts, and will usher in a new stage of cyber warfare.

the future of cyberspace warfare is already here. the cyberspace force, one of the four major branches of the people's army, plays an extremely important role in building national network border defense, promptly detecting and resisting network intrusions, and safeguarding national network sovereignty and information security.

military competition becomes more complex and intense

the second factor that determines the establishment and adjustment of services and arms is the widespread military competition around the world.

military competition between major powers focuses on competing for strategic areas and emerging fields. whoever can take the lead in seizing "shangganling" may have a crushing lead over its competitors. however, there are bound to be too many specious and fake contents mixed with the real ones. if you don't have a pair of "insightful eyes", it is easy to fall into the other party's trap, be imposed by costs, and be completely overwhelmed. during the struggle for hegemony between the united states and the soviet union, the "star wars project" was an example.

at present, competition in the space field is extremely complex and fierce. in 2015, russia established the aerospace force, which is responsible for monitoring space targets and eliminating threats from space. the us military has also begun to deploy in the space field. as early as the 1980s, the us military established the air force space command, becoming the first operational space command in the us armed forces. in 2019, under the strong push of then-us president trump, the us space force established the us space force, thus becoming the sixth us military branch and the first new service since the establishment of the us air force in 1947.

our military space force, which made its first public appearance this year, certainly attracted a lot of media attention. in this regard, the spokesperson of the ministry of national defense said: space security is a strategic guarantee for national construction and social development. promoting the construction of military aerospace forces is of great significance to improving the ability to safely enter and exit and open space, enhance the effectiveness of space crisis management and comprehensive management, and make better peaceful use of space.

the russian-ukrainian conflict, which has been delayed for nearly three years, is not only a wrestling field of military strength and firepower, but also a testing ground for various new weapons, new technologies, and new styles. many of the tactics that have been spawned on the battlefield are far beyond the capture people’s imagination:

for example, unmanned intelligent equipment is showing its talents on the battlefield. a civilian-grade drone loaded with bombs may cause catastrophe to high-value targets such as tanks and armored vehicles;

for example, the starlink system empowers the uzbek army. it is the uzbek army that fights in the foreground, and it supports the uzbek army in the background.natocharges, weapons, intelligence, etc.;

for example, "snapshot" has enabled crowdfunding of intelligence, the threshold for ordinary people to participate in war has been lowered, and mobile apps have also become combat weapons;

for example, cognitive warfare has taken on new forms, with all kinds of deep forgery, rumors and slanders, and false information flying everywhere. “what you see may not be what you believe.”

combat styles such as unmanned warfare, cognitive warfare, and algorithmic warfare are growing and maturing. it can be said that "standing on the coast and looking at a ship in the sea, you can already see the tip of the mast."

to grasp the development trend of intelligent unmanned vehicles, the information support force emerged as the times require. this is a newly created strategic force. it is the key support for coordinating the construction and application of the network information system. it has an important position and great responsibility in promoting the high-quality development of our army and winning modern wars. building this new force will be conducive to accelerating the modernization of national defense and the army and effectively fulfilling the missions and tasks of the people's army in the new era.

realize "1+1>2" in system integration

the development of the services and arms has gone through a long-term and complex process of adjustment and optimization. reform is always going on. the purpose is to develop in the direction of enrichment, synthesis, multi-functionality and flexibility with more scientific combinations and more forward-looking designs. achieve a substantial jump in overall combat capabilities.

taking the army, the "big brother" among the military services, as an example, after the founding of the people's republic of china, six major military command organizations were successively established: the communications department of the military commission was established in may 1950, the artillery command was established in august 1950, and the motorcycle armored forces command was established in september 1950. (later changed to the armored corps command), the engineer corps command was established in march 1951, the chemical defense corps command organization was established in 1952, and the railway corps command was established in september 1953. in this way, in just two or three years after the founding of the people's republic of china, the history of a single army and a traditional army was ended, and a new process of integrating various services and arms into the army began.

although the army has a long history and outstanding military exploits, in the nearly 90 years since the august 1st nanchang uprising in 1927, there has been no dedicated army leadership organization. its relevant functions were undertaken by the original fourth headquarters and the seven military regions of the people's liberation army. on december 31, 2015, the army leadership organization was formally established. the army now includes infantry, armor, artillery, engineering, communications, chemical, missile, army air defense and army aviation.

compared with the "six major arms" in the early days of the founding of the people's republic of china, the addition of missile arms, air defense arms, aviation arms and other arms means that the pace of the army's modernization transformation has been greatly accelerated. in this regard, the army's chest badge has already made an annotation: the road wheels plus wings indicate that the army has "flyed", indicating that this is a new modern army with "all-domain mobility and three-dimensional combat".

the most direct reflection of the development trend of service integration is the emergence of combined brigades and combined battalions. with the deepening of the army's reform, the combined force has become the main combat force, and new types of combined battalions such as heavy, light, air assault, mountain, and amphibious are modularly embedded in the army's combat system. compared with traditional infantry battalions, synthetic battalions include almost all the basic arms and specialties of the army. there are hundreds or even nearly a thousand people in a battalion, which is equivalent to a light regiment in the past. the battalion commander of a synthetic battalion can also be assigned to the position of deputy regiment. , lieutenant colonel rank.

the development of the chinese air force has also experienced tremendous changes. shortly after the agency was established, the first aviation unit, the 4th mixed brigade of the air force, was established in june 1950. the first airborne unit, the 1st air force marine brigade, was established in july. in november, the first transport aviation regiment - -the high-altitude transportation group was established, and the construction of various branches of the people's air force began to take shape. after more than 70 years of development, the air force now includes aviation, airborne, ground air defense, radar, electronic countermeasures, information and communications and other arms. it can undertake strategic early warning, air strikes, air defense and anti-missile, information countermeasures, airborne operations, and strategic delivery. waiting for combat missions.

although the armed police force does not belong to the military services, its nature and composition have many similarities with the military services. in april 1983, the armed police force was formally established. starting from 0:00 on january 1, 2018, the armed police force will be under the centralized and unified leadership of the party central committee and the central military commission, and implement the central military commission-armed police force-troop leadership and command system. in accordance with the principles of the military being the military, the police being the police, and the people being the people, all active forces listed in the armed police force and under the leadership of the state council departments will be withdrawn from the armed police.

a major change in this round of reforms is the establishment of the armed police and coast guard corps, which merges the relevant powers of multiple local departments and has maritime law enforcement powers, changing the previous situation of "kowloon governing the sea." during this period, the solemn voice of the coast guard can always be heard on the front lines of the rights protection struggle on the diaoyu islands, scarborough shoal, ren'ai reef, xianbin reef and other places. the coast guard is more active, bold and proactive in safeguarding rights. this also provides a the results of the reform are annotated.

covering identity and incubating development

the development and growth of some special services and arms also requires some special identity protection measures to protect these services that are still growing and developing, so as to minimize "exposure" and avoid being targeted by enemies and opponents. of course, to a certain extent, this is also a measure taken as a last resort during a period of relatively weak strength.

in 1966, the construction of the missile force of the people's liberation army was put on the agenda. when naming this unit, premier zhou enlai said after repeated consideration: "it is better to call it the second artillery force. it is different from the u.s. strategic air force and the soviet strategic rocket force. it is similar to the rocket force and also different from the soviet strategic rocket force." it is conducive to confidentiality." thus, outside the army's artillery headquarters, the "second artillery" was established. on july 1 of that year, the second artillery leadership organization was established. therefore, july 1 became the anniversary of the founding of the second artillery group, the same day as the party’s birthday.

in the following decades of development, the second artillery corps continued to grow and develop, and its strategic deterrence capabilities continued to improve, but it never became an independent army. until december 31, 2015, the rocket force’s founding meeting was held grandly. from "soldier" to "military", the rocket force has become an independent strategic service. it is the core force of our country's strategic deterrence, the strategic support for our country's status as a great power, and an important cornerstone of maintaining national security.

on september 25, the news that "the rocket force launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into the pacific" flooded the screen. observer.com military commentator shi lao commented that this was a public appearance of my country's strategic nuclear deterrent to the world. nowadays, the rocket force, whose strength has greatly increased, no longer needs to be "anonymous" in the arena.

established on the same day as the rocket force, there was also the strategic support force. this new type of force is positioned as "a new combat force to safeguard national security and an important growth point for our military's new combat capabilities."

"when a whale falls, all things arise." on april 19, 2024, the designation of the strategic support force was revoked. at the same time, the three forces of the military aerospace force, cyberspace force, and information support force were unveiled on the same day. from "1", "3" was hatched. after more than 8 years of development, the strategic support force successfully completed its mission and officially withdrew from the stage of history.

the reform of the services and arms continues, and the "4+4" structural layout is not static. the author firmly believes that the services and arms of the people's liberation army will inevitably become stronger and more rationally structured during the reform, giving birth to strong combat effectiveness and better shouldering the sacred mission of defending the unity of the motherland, safeguarding sovereignty, security, and development interests.

references:

1. han hongquan: "historical investigation on the construction and development of the people's army services and arms", "military history research" issue 4, 2022;

2. liu xin: "from colors to symbols - the past and present life of chinese military services and professional service symbols", "light weapons" issue 12, 2022 to issue 3, 2023;

3. pan hao: "leadership and construction of the services and arms", "party history literature", issue 5, 2016, etc.

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