SinoDefence.com having a new face

I've finished the new page design for SinoDefence.com today. This is the fourth version since the website's launch in early 2002. The new pages are to be released tonight.

As you can see, no much change has been made in the content. In term of organisational structure, the most notable change is the removal of the "order of battle" page in each service section and form of a new independent "Order of Battle" section. This new section is currently under construction but should be ready pretty soon.

Along with the launch of the new web design is the debut of this blog. The blog itself is not new at all (since July 2005). I registered it only to prevent other people from using the name of "SinoDefence Blog", but I never had time to put anything in this blog.

From now on I'll try to post the latest updates here instead of the front page. Also I may use this blog to publish some information which I do not intend to put on SinoDefence.com immediately, for example, the information which cannot be confirmed yet.

You can also use this blog to provide some feedback as well as to share your thoughts. I'll try my best to keep this blog updated regularly.

Also there is a Chinese version of this blog. You can find the link on the right-hand side menu. You can have a look if you can read Chinese. It is for information gathering only and I will not post anything written by myself there.

If you are missing the old page already, you can still have a look clicking here

People's Liberation Army Exercise in 1981

In September 1981 the PLA conducted its first large-scale joint service exercise in the aftermath of the 'Culture Revolution' and the 1979 China-Vietnam border conflict. The 1981 exercise was intended to examine the actual status and readiness of the PLA following years of political chaos in the 1960s and 1970s. The then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping also used the exercise to establish his authority within the Communist Party and the military.

A total of 114,000 regular army troops and militias, 1327 armoured combat vehicles, 1,541 artillery guns, 475 planes, and 10,606 motor vehicles from the ground forces, airborne forces, and air force aviation corps took part in the largest ever exercise in the PLA's history.

The exercise lasted for four days between 14 and 18 September 1981. In the morning of 19 September, the exercising troops carried out a military parade to mark the successful ending of the exercise. The Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, senior party and government officials, and PLA leaders reviewed the troops. In his speech Deng signalled that modernisation would become the highest priority in the PLA's future development. The exercise was generally viewed as the start of the PLA's modernisation programme, which continues today.

I found this video on Google. It was probably copied from an internal documentry film originally published in the 1980s by the military movie studio. The video reveals some interesting images of the PLA's equipment and tactics used in the early 1980s.