Galloping across the sky and the earth in the full time domain. The
70-year development and construction of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force Paratroopers
□ Our reporter Chen Liping
□ Correspondent Jiang Long
70 years of salary passed down, 70 years of forging ahead.
In 70 years, he braved the wind and waves, and in 70 years he dreamed of strong army.
September 17 is the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force Paratroopers.
Over the past 70 years, the airborne troops have inherited and carried forward the spirit of Huang Jiguang in Shangganling. They have worked hard in fulfilling their tasks, forged ahead in reforms and explorations, and withstood tests in dealing with risks. They have become an important team with rapid response, long-range direct and three-dimensional assault capabilities. The winning force plays an important role in safeguarding national security and development interests.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, standing at a new historical starting point, the paratroopers have always followed the strategy of strengthening the army drawn by Chairman Xi, firmly following, determined to win, and scientifically grasping construction. They have not forgotten their original intentions and remembered their mission in the transformation and construction of the army. , Forge ahead and forge ahead with a new look, and strive unremittingly to accelerate the establishment of a world-class airborne force.
Continuous red blood
Write absolute loyalty in following
This is a hero force born with a red gene.
The Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao have always attached importance to and are good at using surprise troops to win. They have an urgent desire for paratroopers, which can be inserted behind enemy lines, and have an urgent desire. Just after the founding ceremony of 1949, they began to draft the decision to form airborne troops.
On September 17, 1950, 5053 elite soldiers from 40 military-level units gathered in the ancient city of Kaifeng and joined the newly formed Air Force First Brigade, and the airborne troops were born.
As soon as the unit was established, it had 139 combat heroes and 2,895 heroes, which are rare in history.
In particular, cadres at all levels, although the vast majority of them are degraded and assigned to higher posts, but they are willing to join in without hesitation.
In the 1960s, the international situation was changing, and the Central Military Commission made a major decision to expand the airborne troops.
In March 1961, the 15th Army of the Army, which became famous in the First World War in the Battle of Shangganling, was rebuilt into the 15th Army of the Airborne Corps. It was like a tiger with wings and wings.
Since then, super hero Huang Jiguang, first-class heroes Qiu Shaoyun, Sun Zhanyuan, Chai Yunzhen, etc. have become the most shining coordinates of the airborne troops.
Starting in the mid and late 1970s, based on the "active defense" strategic policy of the Military Commission, the ability of airborne troops to perform military tasks in various complex terrain environments such as mountains, jungles, canyons and rivers has been continuously improved.
In September 1981, more than 4,000 airborne troops participated in the "802" North China exercise. The airborne troops took vigorous steps to accept Chairman Deng's review. He praised the airborne troops for doing well and wanted to promote them to the whole army. We must use queue training as a breakthrough to strengthen the regularization of the military.
In 1992, when the entire army was downsized, the Central Military Commission resolutely made a major decision to expand the airborne troops, assigning the airborne troops to the air force directly under the leadership of the Air Force, and included them in the first batch of key construction of emergency mobile combat troops.
In 1998, 15,000 airborne soldiers fought on the most dangerous Jingjiang embankment and saw the Huang Jiguang battle flag of Shangganling flying high. Chairman Jiang said emotionally: "The spirit of Shangganling will always live in the hearts of our army; Huang Jiguang's spirit of fighting bravely It will always live in the hearts of our soldiers and people."
In May 2008, a devastating earthquake occurred in Wenchuan, Sichuan, and 11,000 airborne troops rushed to the disaster area as soon as possible.
The "Fifteen Airborne Warriors" jumped at 4,999 meters, touching the people and shocking the world.
At the critical moment when the rescue of the Wenchuan earthquake entered the most critical moment, Chairman Hu personally visited Yinghua Town, Shifang City to condolences the people in the disaster area and the airborne troops, and praised the bravery and fearlessness of the airborne troops.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Chairman Xi has been standing at the height of the times and strategy, looking forward and foresight, and proposed the goal of building a strong people’s army of "subject to the command of the party, able to win battles, and with good style"; focusing on the strategic transformation of the air force, he proposed The major strategic thinking of "speeding up the construction of a powerful people's air force with integrated air and space and both offensive and defensive capabilities" has pointed out the direction and provided scientific guidance for the development of airborne forces.
In 2017, in the context of the reduction of 300,000 posts in the entire army, the airborne troops continued to increase instead of reducing, achieving system reconstruction, reorganization of forces, and restructuring of functions.
The shifting and speeding up of combat power fully reflects the strategic considerations of the Central Military Commission and Chairman Xi on the construction and utilization of airborne forces and the constant attention and care.
The officers and soldiers of the airborne troops are extremely sensitive and inspiring. They have devoted themselves to training their troops and preparing for battles, and they have participated in the military parade three times. They have demonstrated the spirit of the new era airborne troops with first-class standards and mighty spirit.
Over the past 70 years, it is the unswerving obedience of the party’s command that has ensured that the paratroopers have withstood the test in the face of major principles, various storms and challenges, and won extraordinary honors in various exercises and on the international military stage. Hand over qualified answers to the party and people during war military operations and transformation construction.
Keep an eye on the mission
Improve the ability to win in innovation and development
With a special mission, the first-generation airborne troops of New China chose an extraordinary development pace full of risks and challenges from the very beginning.
At the beginning of the establishment of the airborne troops, material conditions were scarce. At that time, there were only a few old US-made C-46 aircraft and Soviet Il-12 aircraft. The officers and soldiers used the 80-meter parachute tower to practice parachuting.
Relying on simple training facilities, once a dangerous situation occurs, serious consequences are very likely to occur.
However, with the brave fighting spirit cultivated during the war years, the officers and soldiers have written legends time and time again:
——In 11 days of formation, 62 paratroopers completed the first parachute jump of New China.
——Within half a year, all officers and soldiers completed universal parachuting.
——Nine months later, participated in the Linhuaiguan offensive combat joint exercise, forming a company-scale airborne combat capability.
By the end of the 1950s, they had continuously conquered a series of subjects such as water parachuting, night parachuting, plateau parachuting, subtropical parachuting, and parachuting in hilly areas, and quickly formed the combat capabilities of "cross-point attack, three-dimensional obstacle striding, and vertical strike".
In 1961, due to changes in missions, the airborne troops were expanded from divisions to corps.
The change in the organization is not only the number of people, but also the comprehensive improvement of equipment construction, personnel quality, and tactical tactics, as well as the overall improvement of the core military capabilities of airborne troops such as airlift, airdrop, and airborne.
Airborne in the old forests of the Xiaoxing’anling Snow Mountain, survival in the tropical virgin forests of Guangxi, trial training on the Karakoram Plateau at an altitude of 4600 meters, and practical training on the isolated islands in the South China Sea.
In the 1970s and 1980s, in order to accelerate the transition from the army to the airborne troops, airborne troops trained throughout the country, and their airborne combat capabilities were steadily improved. They were successively identified as the Air Force Strategic Reserve, the Military Commission Strategic Reserve and the first batch of emergency mobile combat troops. .
In the early 1990s, the Central Military Commission listed airborne troops as a key construction force, and the development of airborne troops entered the fast lane.
During this period, the airborne troops independently developed the X-type paratroopers with strong wind resistance, low landing speed and low impact force, and the airborne methods of the troops were more flexible.
Since then, the parachute equipment of the paratroopers has been rapidly updated.
In August 2003, the airborne troops successfully launched a new type of armed wing parachute.
It adopts the integrated back structure of the main parachute and the backup parachute, and has super stability and gliding function, so that the airborne troops have the ability to "handle guns" in the air.
Nowadays, more than 10 different types of parachutes with different performances, such as the main combat parachute, high-altitude parachute, low-altitude parachute, and two-person parachute, have been lined up successively to make the airborne troops enter the battlefield more diverse methods.
It's not just umbrella equipment that has changed dramatically.
In the 1990s, the heavy equipment of the airborne troops of advanced countries in the world was upgraded, and difficult problems such as heavy equipment continuous drop and air drop with bombs were solved.
Seeing the gap, the airborne troops rushed to catch up, using the new achievements of national defense scientific research and technology, to achieve a triple jump in the field of airborne airdrop within 8 years:
——In June 2002, at the Yellow River beachhead, the airdrop of heavy equipment made a historic breakthrough, ensuring that various vehicles, artillery and other large equipment can be airdropped randomly, creating technical conditions for heavy equipment to accompany airborne operations.
——In August 2005, in the Jiaodong Peninsula, the continuous investment of 3 pieces of heavy equipment was successfully implemented.
China has mastered this key technology after a few countries such as the United States and Russia, enabling the airborne troops to achieve a historic breakthrough in their long-range assault capabilities.
——In September 2008, at a training field in Inner Mongolia, personnel and heavy equipment were airborne by the same plane for the first time, and the rapid mobility of airborne troops jumped to a new height.
In line with the advancement of airborne airdrop technology, batches of special airborne weapons and equipment have entered the airborne troops: infantry fighting vehicles, assault vehicles, and rapid-fire guns suitable for airborne assault operations have successively formed airborne combat capabilities; armed helicopters flying in the blue sky of thousands of miles, various Various types of transport aircraft have also entered the ranks of airborne equipment.
Equipment upgrades bring innovations in tactics.
Airborne troops in the cold regions of the Northland, the Gobi plateau, islands and reefs, under various extreme environments and special climatic conditions, have repeatedly defeated the blade.
Fruitful.
Airborne troops have gradually developed from a single lightweight armed force to a heavily loaded mechanized assault force, and the combat style has leapfrogged from a single to a diversified combination.
At present, the airborne troops have the capabilities of fully equipped parachuting at an altitude of 5,500 meters and a low altitude of 260 meters, airdrops of heavy equipment, and large-scale cluster parachuting capabilities.
Aiming for world-class
Realize moulting and flying in the reform and strong army
At the beginning of May of this year, new wheeled armored vehicles were installed with airborne synthetic brigade.
Some media commented that the airborne troops will be more powerful, and their high-mobility combat advantages will be released to the greatest extent.
This is a microcosm of the accelerated development of airborne troops in the new era.
In the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Chairman Xi emphasized that to build a modern combat system with Chinese characteristics, to shoulder the mission of the new era entrusted by the party and the people.
With the need to safeguard national security interests and the expansion of missions, the airborne troops are based on new missions in the new era, aiming at building a world-class military unit, and continuously accelerating the pace of transformation and construction.
In 2017, the reform of the airborne troops achieved revolutionary force reorganization and system restructuring, and highlighted the construction of new qualitative forces such as airborne synthesis, air assaults, and combat support. Combat troops adopted a composite and modular organization, which was conducive to internal synthesis of arms and focused preparations. , It is also convenient for joint operations and group use.
After the adjustment and reform of the airborne troops, the command level is flatter, the combat force is more modular, and the support and support are more professional.
In the year of reorganization, the airborne troops participated in the military parade on the 90th anniversary of the founding of the army with a new look. They were organized according to joint combat forces, and the basic combat units of the battalion participated in the whole process. The whole process and all elements implemented special operations guidance, assault operations, and combat support. .
In recent years, the airborne troops have actively adapted to the new joint combat command system, reshaped the arms construction model of "peace and war as one, and combat and construction". They have successively docked with various major war zones to study cases, and normally go to various strategic directions to participate in joint joint operations. Exercises and verification of tactics, exploring and establishing institutional mechanisms such as command and operation, force formation, combat application, system support, and joint logistics support that are closely linked to combat tasks, and achieve more breakthroughs in integrating into the joint combat system.
Multi-dimensional and three-dimensional projection of troops, fighter aviation opening up channels, electronic forces throughout the offensive and defense, and reconnaissance intelligence system support.
At the beginning of last year, within the framework of a joint combat system in a certain strategic direction, a brigade system went to the extreme cold region to carry out joint combat exercises. The content changed from all elements to the entire system, focusing on testing the system to overcome tactical tactics and comprehensively tempering joint combat capabilities. .
At the same time, aiming to give full play to the special advantages of the arms, the airborne troops continued to exercise their core combat capabilities such as "fast, long, heavy, and special":
——Rapid response ability.
Establish a high-efficiency command and combat command chain, regularly carry out command post combat readiness on-duty drills and hierarchical deployment command drills, standardize the airborne combat readiness dispatch process, and shorten the combat response time of the troops.
——Remote delivery capability.
Adopt a variety of methods such as air-ground integration, military-civilian integration, etc., to test and temper the long-distance projecting capabilities of the troop reorganization system from the strategic hinterland to all directions.
-Reloading of airdrop capabilities.
Relying on large transport aircrafts such as Il-76 and Yun-20, it will strengthen the ability to form an organizational system and large-scale reloading airdrops.
At present, the troops have mastered core technologies such as the continuous drop of multiple pieces of heavy equipment, the airdrop of heavy equipment with ammunition, and the simultaneous landing of people loaded on the same plane.
——Special parachute capability.
Pay close attention to parafoil high-altitude penetration, ultra-low-altitude parachute landing, two-person parachute landing, and night cluster parachute landing capabilities. The troops have successively completed training in difficult subjects such as integrated parafoil penetration and ultra-low-altitude parachute assaults, enriching the troops' diversified airborne operations Mission capability pedigree.
Innovations and breakthroughs time after time have enabled the airborne troops after reform to have first-class combat capability.
In September last year, in the "Central China-2019" Sino-Russian joint military exercise, the paratroopers entered into the air into the formation of actual troops, installed airdrops with bombs, and quickly and mobile assaults and accurately destroyed targets after landing, successfully completing the mission.
Foreign media comments: The all-round airborne training of airborne troops has distinctive features and shows impressive deterrence.
Under the new pattern of "Military Commission management, theater main battle, and service main construction", the airborne troops pay close attention to their missions and tasks, learn and implement Xi Jinping's thought of strengthening the army, always aim at world-class standards, and continue to promote the airborne troops to be composed of multiple forces. The multi-functional module system is combined to leap, from regional tactical cooperation to global campaign assault, and from Xinjiang to global reach. An airborne force capable of performing diversified military tasks under the conditions of future informatization is rising rapidly.