The text in this page is dated and should be used only for general reference.
Formerly the 2nd Artillery Corps, PLA Rocket Force is now considered a separate service branch in itself with 90,000 to 1,20,000 personnel. It seems like TCs in their respective areas may command some of the resources of certain units belonging to PLARF. Its HQ is located at the Qinghe Compound in Beijing and is commanded directly by CMC. This force is divided in seven bases spread across multiple regions. Unit number for brigades starts from 96XX. Before it’s reorganisation in 2015, the bases had different assigned numbers starting from 51 till 56. Base 51 was assigned northeast Asia, 52 Taiwan, 53 southeast Asia, 54 & 55 north America and Europe and 56 south and central Asia.
After 2015, bases were numbered from 61 to 67. Each base has usually 6-7 brigades and each brigade has 3 launch battalions formed out of launch companies. Brigades use these numbers in their own designation. For example a brigade under Base 61 will have designation 61X Brigade.
This command is led by a full general and theater leader grade officer is assigned as Political Commissar. 6 Army Leader grade officers command 6 bases (equivalent to an Army) numbered 61-66 with subordinate launch brigades and regiments. There is a Base 67 (formerly Force 22) which stockpiles nuclear weapons. There are between 90000 to 1,20,000 personnel in the force with an average of 15000 to 20000 personnel in each base. Additionally, there are 3 training bases and 1 engineering base.
Each missile Base has a local HQ covering 3-5 missile brigades with multiple launch units at battalion level. Each brigade has 3 Launch Battalions and/or Launch Companies. They can operate mobile or silo based missiles. Support elements include battalions for maintenance, signals, engineering and logistics & support units. Each brigade usually has a mobile command post and some pre-surveyed and reserve launch sites. A launch battalion may have a mobile or fixed launch control center with multiple companies under its command. The companies have 5-6 missiles on the same number of TEL and transport vehicles along with mobile power generators, a survey vehicle and a command vehicle.
Each brigade may have hundreds or just a handful of missiles depending upon its role. Conventional missile brigades usually have a larger number of missiles with up to 30-36 launchers with 1-6 missiles on each. Nuclear missile brigades usually have 6-8 missile launchers or silos or cave sites. DF-31 brigades have 12 launcher in each brigade while DF-15 brigades may have 12 companies with 3 launchers each, bringing the total to 36 missiles per brigade. Majority of ground launched cruise missile brigades usually have 20-28 launch vehicles while IRBM and MRBM brigades may have 15-18.
NOTE: It’s not clear whether anti-satellite and BMD assets are with PLARF or SSF.
IMAGE 4: 611st Brigade HQ with a missile launch site
UNIT | LOCATION | MISSILE | NOTE | LAT | LONG | MUCD/OLD |
2nd Artillery Corps HQ | Beijing | 40° 2’8.07 | 116°19’11.24 | |||
Base 61. | Huangshan, Anhui | Former base 52 | 30°03’38″N | 118°09’36″E | 96601/96151 | |
611st Brigade | Chizhou. | DF-21A | former 807 | 30°41’30.98″N | 117°53’59.82″E | 96711/96161 |
612nd Brigade | Jingdezhen | DF-21A | former 811 | 28°58’49.94″N | 117° 7’13.69″E | 96712/96163 |
613rd Brigade | Shangaro | DF-15B | former 815 | 28°28’29.42″N | 117°53’43.31″E | 96713/96165 |
614th Brigade | Yon’gan | DF-11A | former 817 | 26° 3’38.36″N | 117°18’54.18″E | 96714/96167 |
615th Brigade | Meizhou | DF-11A | former 818 | 24°16’59.08″N | 115°58’15.22″E | 96715/96169 |
616th Brigade | Ganzhou | DF-15B | former 819 | 25°50’2.00″N | 114°54’35.50″E | 96716/96162 |
617th Brigade | Jinhua | DF-15B | former 820 | 29° 8’54.14″N | 119°36’57.62″E | 96717/96164 |
Base 62. | Kunming, Yunnan. | Former base 53 | 24°59’27.76″N | 102°50’5.08″E | 96602/96201 | |
621st Brigade | Yibin. | DF-21A | former 802 | 28°45’38.72″N | 104°47’28.79″E | 96721/96211 |
622nd Brigade | Yuxi. | DF-31A | former 808 | 24°21’37.35″N | 102°29’38.68″E | 96722/96213 |
623rd Brigade | Liuzhou. | DF-10A, LACM | former 821 | 24°23’8.85″N | 109°34’21.51″E | 96723/96215 |
624th Brigade | Qingyuan | DF-21D, DF-31A | former 825 | 19°28’20.26″N | 109°27’25.48″E | 96724/96219 |
625th Brigade | Jianshui. | DF-26, DF-21?? | Had 621 earlier | 23°44’19.40″N | 102°52’18.39″E | 96725/96216 |
626th Brigade | Qingyuan | DF-21C/D DF-26 ?? | former 825 Had 624 earlier | 23°41’2.06″N | 113°10’35.23″E | 96726/96319 |
627th Brigade? | Puning? | ? | Being raised? | 23°24’43.72″N | 116°10’54.20″E | 96727 |
Base 63. | Huaihua, Hunan. | Former base 55 | 27°34’31.70″N | 110° 1’29.91″E | 96603/96301 | |
631st Brigade | Jingzhou. | DF-5B | former 803 | 26°34’44.78″N | 109°40’15.84″E | 96731/96311 |
632nd Brigade | Shaoyang. | DF-31 | former 805 | 27°15’8.62″N | 111°23’12.29″E | 96732/96313 |
633rd Brigade | Huitong. | DF-5A. | former 814 | 26°53’37.39″N | 109°44’20.16″E | 96733/96315 |
634th Brigade | ?? ??? | DF-41? | former 805? | 26° 8’50.64″N | 109°46’24.65″E | 96734 |
635th Brigade | Yichun. | CJ-10, LACM | former 824 | 27°53’12.79″N | 114°23’10.68″E | 96735/96317 |
636th Brigade | Shaoguan. | DF-16 | former 826 | 24°45’25.09″N | 113°40’43.47″E | 96736/96318 |
637th Brigade | ?? ??? | ?? ??? | New | 96737 | ||
Base 64 | Lanzhou. | Former base 56 | 35°56’20.38″N | 104° 0’41.81″E | 96604/96351 | |
641st Brigade | Hancheng. | DF-31 | former 803 | 35°28’31.99″N | 110°26’48.45″E | 96741/96111 |
642nd Brigade | Datong. | DF-31A | former 809 | 36°56’51.22″N | 101°40’1.92″E | 96742/96361 |
643rd Brigade | Tianshui | DF-31A | former 812 | 34°31’47.33″N | 105°54’48.53″E | 96743/96363 |
644th Brigade | Hanzhong | DF-41 or DF-17 | Established July 2017 | 33° 7’58.64″N | 106°56’2.08″E | 96744 |
645th Brigade | ??? ?? | ??? ?? | New | 96745 | ||
646th Brigade | Korle | DF-21B/C?? | former 823 | 41°41’30.33″N | 86°10’14.16″E | 96746/96365 |
Base 65 | Shenyang | Former base 51 | 41°51’28.41 | 123°27’2.52 | 96605/96101 | |
651st Brigade | Dalian | DF-21 | former 810 | 39°18’10.35″N | 122° 3’54.38″E | 96751/96113 |
652nd Brigade | Tonghua. | DF-21C/D?? | former 804 | 41°40’3.64″N | 125°57’16.79″E | 96752/96115 |
653rd Brigade | Laiwu. | DF-21C | former 813 | 36°14’3.10″N | 117°42’53.96″E | 96753/96117 |
654th Brigade. | Dalian. | DF-26 | 39°14’6.48″N | 122° 2’35.81″E | 96754 | |
655th & 656th | Being raised? | |||||
Base 66 | Luoyang | Former base 54 | 34°32’41.89 | 112°08’55.39 | 96606/96251 | |
661st Brigade | Lingbao. | DF-5B | former 801 | 34° 1’58.55″N | 111° 1’24.66″E | 96761/96261 |
662nd Brigade | Sundian/Luanchuan? | DF-4 or DF-5A | former 804 | 96762/96263 | ||
663rd Brigade | Nanyang. | DF-31A | former 813 | 33° 0’47.43″N | 112°24’52.42″E | 96763/96265 |
664th Brigade | Luoyang. | ?? | New | 34°32’36.63″N | 112° 8’49.69″E | 96764 |
665th Brigade | Xinxiang? | ?? | New | 35°18’17.89″N | 113°49’42.58″E | 96765 |
666th Brigade | Xinyang. | DF-26 | former 827 | 32°10’3.27″N | 114° 7’32.83″E | 96766/96267 |
Base 67 | Baoji | |||||
Taibai | Storage and handling of Nuclear tipped missiles | 33°52’51.28″N | 107°15’13.03″E |
OLD UNIT / BASE | LOCATION | LAT | LONG | MISSILES |
2nd Artillery Corps HQ | Qinghe, Beijing | |||
80301 / Base 51 | Shenyang, Liaoning | |||
406 Brigade | Tonghua | 41°45’15.31 | 126° 0’1.14″ | DF-21 |
410 Brigade | Dengshahe | 39°11’15.91 | 122° 5’13.43 | |
UI Brigade | DF-3 | |||
80302 / Base 52 | Huangshan, Jiangxi | |||
407 Brigade | Liangkengwang, Lianxiwang | 30° 8’51.44 | 117°38’35.46 | DF-3 / DF-21 |
411 Brigade | Jiangxi Province | |||
815 Brigade | Leping, Jiangxi | DF-15 | ||
80303 / Base 62 | Kunming, Yunnan | |||
402 Brigade | Chuxiong | 25° 3’47.11 | 101°32’0.12 | DF-21 |
408 Brigade | Ching-yu, Jianshui | 23°37’4.72 | 102°49’4.0 | DF-21A, DF-3A |
80304 / Base 54 | Luoyang, Henan | |||
401 Brigade | Lo-ning, | 34°21’22.89 | 111°38’18.50 | DF-5A |
404 Brigade | Sundian | 33°15’N | 114°45’E | DF-4 |
413 Brigade | Henan Province | |||
80305 / Base 63 | Huaihua, Hunan | |||
403 Brigade | Ta-ling, Dalong | 26°38’37.99 | 114° 1’27.76 | DF-3A |
405 Brigade | Shuangjiang, Tongdao | 26° 8’45.16 | 109°46’18.28 | DF-4A, DF-5 |
UI Brigade | Tongdao?? | DF-5 | ||
80306 / Base 64 | Xining, Qinghai | |||
409 Brigade | Datong | 36°30’39.66 | 103°35’46.23 | DF-3 / DF-21 |
412 Brigade | Tsaidam / Ta-ch’ai-tan, Da Qaidam | 37°55’42.63 | 95°21’46.99 | DF-4 |
414 Brigade | Delingha | 37°29’48.46 | 97° 3’13.19 | DF-21 , DF-4 |
UNIT | LOCATION | LAT | LONG | MUCD/OLD | Note |
304th Engineering Regiment | Huaihua | 27°32’36.13″N | 110° 0’23.61″E | 96783 | |
3rd Engineering Regiment | Luoyang | 34°26’19.85″N | 112°24’59.00″E | 96546 | |
Base 61 Technical Support Regiment | Yushan | 28°39’25.07″N | 118°17’17.94″E | 96815 | |
Base 61 Operational and Comprehensive Support Regiments | Xiuning | 29°47’45.60″N | 118°10’53.24″E | 96813 & 96814 | |
Base 64 Comprehensive Support Regiment | Xining | 36°39’33.46″N | 101°41’2.71″E | 96844 | |
Base 65 Comprehensive Support Regiment | Tonghua | 41°43’50.56″N | 125°57’58.03″E | 96854 | |
Base 65 Equipment Inspection Regiment | Tonghua | 41°35’59.80″N | 126°14’54.38″E | 96035 | |
Base 61 Missile Component Depot | Shangrao | 28°28’55.11″N | 117°54’7.39″E | 96815 | |
Communications Engineering Regiment | Samenxia | 34°47’42.04″N | 111°11’0.64″E | 96885 | |
Base 62 Equipment Inspection Regiment | Mile | 24°23’53.13″N | 103°25’52.42″E | 96032 | |
1st Installation Engineering Brigade | Luoyang | 34°41’13.19″N | 112°24’37.11″E | 96881 | |
Base 62 Operations Support Regiment | Kunming | 25° 0’15.56″N | 102°50’1.86″E | 96832 | |
Base 63 Technical Support Regiment | Jingzhou | 26°38’47.04″N | 109°41’22.93″E | 96853 | |
Base 63 Equipment Inspection Regiment | Huaihua | 27°32’16.32″N | 109°59’7.07″E | 96033 | |
41st Engineering Brigade | Changping | 40°12’48.76″N | 116° 3’15.25″E | 96786 | |
Jianshui | Laochuzha | 23°40’35.49″N | 102°57’19.70″E | Maintenance & Inspection Since 1970 | |
Lianxiwang | Zhuang Kengkou | 29°52’6.26″N | 117°40’52.00″E | Maintenance & Inspection Since 1975 | |
Luanchuan | Zhoujizhuang | 33°48’49.94″N | 111°32’6.43″E | Maintenance & Inspection | |
Delighna SSM Regiment Support Area A | Delhi | 37°21’38.23″N | 97°21’43.93″E | Construction started in 1982. CSS-3 SSM | |
661 Brigade Support | 34° 3’2.05″N | 111° 2’4.05″E |
UNIT | LOCATION | LAT | LONG | Note |
Delingha Tunnel 1 | 37°29’17.70″N | 97°20’41.25″E | Delingha Tunnels Support Facility and possible missile storage | |
Delingha Tunnel 2 | 37°34’35.79″N | 97°47’53.13″E | ||
Jingxian Cave 1 | Nunnery Bian | 26°36’14.97″N | 109°45’50.91″E | |
Jingxian Cave 2 | Road Chong | 26°42’47.76″N | 109°41’44.95″E | Possible storage and handling |
Jingxian Cave 3 | Baigou | 26°35’47.52″N | 109°50’5.91″E | |
Lushi cave 1 | Jinshancun | 35°58’48.38″N | 111°10’45.99″E | |
Lushi Cave 2 | Baogou | 34°12’59.20″N | 110°58’12.73″E | Cave or support facility |
Lushi cave 3 | Heishanmiao | 34° 6’34.18″N | 111° 0’17.99″E | |
Lushi cave 4 | Shuiquan | 34°13’55.27″N | 110°59’53.12″E | |
Kunming Missile Storage | Huangtu Pocun | 24°58’8.14″N | 102°53’15.09″E | |
Shuangchengzi | Hedongli | 40°25’47.28″N | 99°50’49.10″E | Storage, Also has airbase |
Sundian Cave Storage 1 | Zhouzhuang | 33°45’56.11″N | 112° 9’42.45″E | |
Sundian Cave Storage Support 1 | Shaling | 33°45’45.53″N | 112°12’29.22″E | |
Tongdao Cave | Changcha | 26°11’15.33″N | 109°53’36.47″E | |
Tongdao SSM Support Area A | Gengchong | 26°16’6.43″N | 109°55’30.50″E | Missile storage and support |
Tonghua 2 | Xiaochang Chonggouli | 41°33’12.11″N | 126°14’42.44″E | Possible storage and transfer point. Had CSS-1 and 2 |
Tonghua 3 | Toudao Gangouzi | 41°51’38.67″N | 125°44’7.81″E | Storage, rail to road transfer point , servicing |
Xuanhua Missile Site | Sifabgtaicun | 40°38’59.77″N | 115° 2’34.02″E | Storage and loading since 1967 |
Xicun Storage? | Uxxaktal, Malan | 42°11’38.86″N | 87° 9’47.34″E | Air Base and Weapons Storage |
Rail to Road Transfer Points
Information gathered from old declassified CIA maps. With induction of road mobile missiles, many of these locations may not be in use. Additionally, the exact coordinates published in the document don’t match up with those on Google maps, so I had to look around and modify them a bit. So these are not 100% accurate
UNIT | LOCATION | LAT | LONG | NOTE |
Datong Rail to Road transfer point | Datong | 36°55’26.95″N | 101°40’43.95″E | |
Dengshahe Rail to Road Transfer Point 1 | Chengjiacun | 39°14’56.83″N | 122° 5’27.20″E | Storage of war stores and possibly missiles |
Dengshahe Rail to Road Transfer Point 2 | Chengjiacun | 39°14’28.62″N | 122° 5’49.13″E | |
Kunming Rail to Road transfer point | Dashuitian | 24°56’45.21″N | 102°51’44.33″E | |
Luoyang Rail to road transfer point | Jiepo | 34°43’34.45″N | 112°31’10.42″E | |
Shandan Rail to road transfer point | Huanzhuandcun | 38°48’45.27″N | 101° 4’27.27″E | |
Lianxiwang Rail to road transfer point | Da’aochong | 31° 6’12.60″N | 118°12’9.32″E | |
Tonghua Rail to road transfer point | Dagao Ligoi | 41°35’58.87″N | 126°15’0.77″E | |
Tangdao Rail to road transfer point | Xuantan | 26°42’36.33″N | 109°42’56.22″E | |
Wuvwei rail to road transfer point | Gongjia Xiazhuang | 37°53’54.49″N | 102°37’53.18″E | Not confirmed. CSS-1,2 sighted in 1970s and 80s |
Xian rail to road transfer point | Zhaodongcun | 34°18’40.20″N | 109° 6’59.61″E | Missile storage (in open and shed) since 1960s. CSS-1,2,3,4 and CSS-NX3 |
Nanshe rail to road transfer point | Nanshecun | 38° 2’24.60″N | 112°55’56.95″E | Tai Hang Mountains |
Tongdao Rail to Road Transfer point | Dashucun | 26°38’47.29″N | 109°41’27.22″E |
Chinese Missiles
PLARF has quite a large number of missiles fitted with conventional warheads. There are atleast 180-200 missiles which can deliver 220-250 nuclear warheads. Of these, 90 are ICBMs on nearly the same number of mobile launchers. Following are the numbers according to a US DOD report:
- SRBM (300-1000km) : 750 to 1500. Of these, only DF-15 seems to be nuclear capable.
- MRBM (1000-3000 km): 150-450
- IRBM (3000-5500 km) : Unknown. Many of these are equipped with nuclear warheads
- LACM : 270-540
NAME | NUMBERS | RANGE (km) | STORAGE | PROPULSION | NOTES |
BALLISTIC MISSILES | |||||
DF-21 / CSS-5 | 40-50 | 1700 | Road mobile | Solid | |
DF-21A / CSS-5 Mod 2 | 40-50 | 1700 | Road mobile | Solid | |
DF-21C / CSS-4 Mod 4 | 25-30 | 1700 | Road mobile | Solid | |
DF-21D / CSS-5 Mod 5) | 1500 | Road Mobile | Solid | Anti ship | |
DF-26 | 16-20 | 4-5000 | Road mobile | Solid | |
DF-31 / CSS-10 Mod 1 | 6-10 | 7000+ | Road mobile | Solid | 3 stages |
DF-31A / CSS-10 Mod 2 | 15-20 | 11000+ | Road Mobile | Solid | 3 stages |
DF-41 / CSS-X-20 | ?? | 15000 | Road mobile | Solid | Under development. MIRV capable |
DF-3A | 10-15?? | 3000 | Road mobile | Liquid | Old |
DF-4 /CSS-3 | 10-15 | 5500 | Silo | Liquid | Old. |
DF-5A / CSS-4 Mod 2 | 15-20 | 12000+ | Silo | Liquid | |
DF-5B /CSS-4 Mod 3 | |||||
DF-15/M-9 | 90-100 | 600 | Road mobile | Solid | |
DF-15A /CSS-6 | 850 | Road Mobile | Solid | ||
DF-15B | 750 | Road Mobile | Solid | ||
DF-16 | 800 | Road Mobile | Solid | ||
DF-11/M-11 | 100-140 | 300 | Road Mobile | Solid | |
DF-11A | 600 | Road mobile | Solid | ||
JL-1 | ?? | 1700 | SLBM | Solid | Retired? |
JL-2 | 48 | 7000 | SLBM | Solid | Type 094 submarines |
CRUISE MISSILES | |||||
CJ-10/DH-10 | 40-90 launchers. Upto 550 missiles | 1500 | Multiple | Subsonic | LACM |
YJ-63/KD-63 | 200 | Air, H6 bomber | Subsonic | LACM | |
KD-88 | 200 | Air | Subsonic | ||
YJ-18 | 220-240 | Multiple | Supersonic in Terminal | AShM, LACM | |
YJ-62 | 290-400 | Multiple | Subsonic | AShM | |
YJ-7 | 25 | Multiple | Subsonic | AShM | |
YJ-8/C-801 | 42 | Multiple | Subsonic | AShM | |
YJ-82 | 42 | Submarine | Subsonic | AShM | |
YJ-83 | 120 | Multiple | Subsonic | AShM | |
YJ-83A/J | 180 | Multiple | Subsonic | AShM | |
YJ-91/KH-31P | 110 | Multiple | Supersonic | AShM, LACM Anti-radiation | |
YJ-100/KD-20 | 1500-2000 | Air??/Land | Subsonic | LACM | |
AS-13/KH-59MK | 115 | Su-30MKK | Subsonic | AShM, LACM | |
SS-N-22 Moskit | 240 | Sovremenny ships | Supersonic | AShM, LACM | |
SS-N-27B Kalibr | 200 | Kilo Submarine | Supersonic | AShM, LACM | |
Changfeng | 800 | Land | Subsonic | LACM | |
UNIT | LOCATION | LAT | LONG | NOTE |
2nd Artillery Corps Research Complex | Beijing | 40° 2’24.36 | 116°19’15.04 | |
Batou Nuclear Fuel Component Plant | Butai | 40°35’32.08 | 109°47’55.30 | |
Chengdu Uranium Enrichment Facility | 30°39’8.81″N | 104° 3’43.53″E | ||
Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics | 31°30’24.40″ | 104°45’25.79 | Jichujiaoyu Center Nuclear research, warhead storage or 40° 4’23.70″N or 116°15’19.63″E | |
China Institute of Atomic Energy | Tuoli | 39°44’51.86″N | 116° 2’48.03″E | |
Guangyuan Plutonium production reactor | 32°29’42.42″N | 105°35’24.05″E | 600 MWt. | |
Hanzhong Uranium Enrichment Plant | 33°15’47.70” N | 107°25’52.74” E | CNNC Shaanxi Uranium Enrichment Co. Ltd. or Plant 405 | |
Heiping Uranium Enrichment Facility 1 | Jinkouhe district, Leshan city | 29°14’11.77″N | 103° 3’40.08″E | Plant 814 Produces Uranium and Tritium |
Heiping Uranium Enrichment Facility 2 | Shuangfu, Emeishan city | 29°36’59.69″N | 103°28’33.83″E | Plant 814 Produces Uranium and Tritium |
Hsin-ko-erh testing site | 41°33’53.51 | 88°42’28.49 | Vertical shafts nuclear test site | |
Jiuquan Pu Processing | Jiuquan | 40°13’23.48″N | 97°21’20.23″E | |
Jiuquan Atomic Energy Complex, | Jiuquan | 40°10’54.08 | 97°16’52.27 | Plutonium processing 300-400kg/year |
Jiuquan Pu reactor | Jiuquan | 40°13’13.62″N | 97°21’19.14″E | |
Koko Nor complex | Haiyan. | 36°57’42.01 | 100°53’48.50 | Northwest Nuclear Weapons Research and Design Academy, Fabrication and stockpile |
Koko Nor Fabrication complex | Haiyan. | 36°56’32.44″N | 100°55’20.46″E | |
Lanzhou Uranium Enrichment Plant: | 36°08’53.30” N | 103°31’24.49” E | gaseous diffusion facility and centrifuge facilities organized into four projects | |
Po-cheng-tzu testing site | 41°41’46.63 | 88°22’55.62 | Horizontal shafts nuclear test site | |
Yibin Nuclear Fuels Factory | Yibin | 28°45’23.88 | 104°38’16.82 | Plutonium, Tritium & Li-6 |
TABLE 3.7 : List of Chinese nuclear facilities
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Thank you sir for posting this valuable information pertaining to PLARF ORBAT. Sir could you please tell me that how come you have come to the GEO REF identification. I mean is it authentic or based on some document available on Open Source you have compiled please share if you can. Thanks alot for great work you have put up.
Thanks. https://jjamwal.in/yayavar/order-of-battle-of-chinese-armed-forces/2/