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PLA Ground Force

People's Liberation Army Ground Force
中国人民解放军陆军
Ground Force Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg
Ground Force Flag of the People's Republic of China
Active 1927 – present
Country  People's Republic of China
Allegiance Communist Party of China
Branch People's Liberation Army
Type Army
Size 1.6 million active
Aircraft Approx. 992+
Engagements Chinese Civil War
Korean War
Sino-Indian War
Sino-Soviet Border Conflict
Sino-Vietnamese War
Sino-Vietnamese conflicts 1979–90
Northern Mali conflict
Commanders
Commander General Li Zuocheng
Political Commissar Lt. General Liu Lei
Aircraft flown
Attack helicopter CAIC Z-10, Changhe Z-11, Harbin Z-19,
Observation helicopter Changhe Z-11, Harbin Z-19
Trainer helicopter Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil, Eurocopter EC120 Colibri
Utility helicopter Aérospatiale Gazelle,
Transport Shaanxi Y-8, Shaanxi Y-9, Xian Y-7

The People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) (simplified Chinese: 中国人民解放军陆军; traditional Chinese: 中國人民解放軍陸軍; pinyin: Zhōngguó Rénmín Jiěfàngjūn Lùjūn) is the land-based service branch of the People's Liberation Army and it is the largest and oldest branch of the entire Chinese armed forces. The PLAGF can trace its lineage from 1927, however it wasn't officially established until 1948. As of 2016, the PLAGF has a strength of 1,600,000 personnel making it the largest standing army in the world. In addition, the People's Liberation Army Ground Force has an estimated 510,000 strong reserve force.

The PLA ground forces consisted of conventionally armed main and regional units, which in 1987 made up over 70 percent of the PLA. It provided a good conventional defense, but had only limited offensive potential and was poorly equipped for nuclear, biological, or chemical warfare. Main forces included about 35 group armies, comprising 118 infantry divisions, 13 armored divisions, and 33 artillery and antiaircraft artillery divisions, plus 71 independent regiments and 21 independent battalions of mostly support troops. Regional forces consisted of 73 divisions of border defense and garrison troops plus 140 independent regiments.

Under the old system, a field army consisted of three partially motorized infantry divisions and two regiments of artillery and anti-aircraft artillery. Each field army division had over 12,000 personnel in three infantry regiments, one artillery regiment, one armored regiment, and one anti-aircraft artillery battalion. Organization was flexible, the higher echelons being free to tailor forces for combat around any number of infantry divisions. At least theoretically, each division had its own armor and artillery — actual equipment levels were not revealed and probably varied — and the assets at army level and within the independent units could be apportioned as needed.


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