Chinese Armed Forces ORBAT Part 3: Ground Forces

Chinese PLA ground forces

 PLA Airborne Corps

It is a strategic unit meant to be used for “tip of the spear” type of operations behind enemy lines.  Before 2017, it was called 15th Airborne Corps under PLAAF and had 3 Divisions, 43rd, 44th, and 45th. Each division had 2 airborne infantry regiments, a Special Operations unit, one aviation regiment and one helicopter group,.  It underwent restructuring in 2017 and was changed to Airborne Corps of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and assigned to PLAAF.  All units are located within Central TC with PLAAF HQ having direct operational command.

Troops from this unit were involved in the infamous Tiananmen Square massacre. 

PLA Air Force Airborne Corps

It uses following weapons: 

  • PLANES: Y-12, IL-76, Yu-8, Yu-7, Y-20 
  • HELICOPTERS: Mi-17, Z-8, Z-9 
  • ARTILLERY: Type-89 122mm SPG, Type-84 82mm mortar, Type-85 60mm mortar, 2S9 120mm SP Mortar and 107mm MBRL Possible PCL181 155mm guns 
  • VEHICLES: BJ212 jeep with 105mm Recoilless rifles,
  • ARMOUR VEHICLES: Type-15, ZBD-03

 As of 2022, it consists of units shown in the table below.

UNITSMUCDLOCATIONLATLONGREMARKS
PLA Airborne Corps^39155Xiagon, Hubei30°57’24.67″N113°54’41.43″E
127th Airborne Brigade95985Kaifeng City, Henan Province34°45’21.31″N114°22’23.62″E
128th Airborne Brigade95982Liusi Village, Gulou District, Kaifeng34°45’53.07″N114°17’8.33″E
130th Airborne Brigade95964Sanlihe, Guangshui City, Suizhou City, Hubei31°36’23.37″N113°50’40.02″E
131st Airborne Brigade95918Junmin Road, Guangshui City, Suizhou City, Hubei31°36’6.09″N113°50’43.09″E
133rd Airborne Brigade95944Xisi Avenue, Huangpi District, Wuhan30°45’49.78″N114°11’53.89″E
134th Airborne Brigade95969Xindian Village, Huangpi District, Wuhan City, Hubei30°52’21.94″N114°19’9.21″E
Special Operations Brigade^95848Zhuhu, Xiaonan District, Xiaogan30°47’29.52″N113°57’31.95″EHas one elite Thor commando unit
Strategic Support Brigade
Aviation Brigade95825Yingfang Street, Xiaogan30°57’24.89″N113°54’42.63″E
Training Brigade^95822Junmin Road, Guangshui City, Suizhou City, Hubei31°37’4.53″N113°50’54.43″E
Haodian Comprehensive Training BaseHaodian Town, Guangshui City, Hubei31°48’12.77″N113°45’38.86″E
Table: PLAAF Airborne Corps

PLA Air Force Airborne Corps Map: https://earth.google.com/web/@32.76428466,114.06701113,-320.0284606a,771153.69300041d,30y,0h,0t,0r/data=MigKJgokCiAxVy1wMzdpeGJlYW5ScTQtMDlBdUlsQXRFTGEzM21yVSAC

8 thoughts on “Chinese Armed Forces ORBAT Part 3: Ground Forces

  1. You didn’t seem to get a lot of attention for this but I just wanted to let you know this is some great stuff!

  2. Its so much of hard work
    Great
    Can you share something on UAV Brigade, EW Brigade and Marine Brigade – organization, capability etc

    1. Thanks. Marines have been covered to some extent in one of the posts. There isn’t much useful information available about the rest right now. Maybe will write something in a few months

  3. thanks the valuable information provide by you. is it possible to get .cvs file which you refer in above map view for various theater e.g. China ORBAT Map – East TC.csv, China ORBAT Map – South TC.csv, China ORBAT Map – Central.csv, China ORBAT Map – Airborne.csv, China ORBAT Map – Marine.csv, China ORBAT Map – Border Units.csv, China ORBAT Map – North TC.csv, China ORBAT Map – West TC.csv

  4. Why not? There’s no secrets to keep from the US. JJ has done a fantastical job from published sources. Saying “you’re wrong but I cant reveal my sources” is morally wrong.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *