СИЛИ СПЕЦІАЛЬНОГО ПРИЗНАЧЕННЯ ЗБРОЙНИХ СИЛ КИТАЮ: СУЧАСНИЙ ЕТАП РОЗВИТКУ ТА ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ

Abstract

The military history of the creation and combat activity of Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) armed forces is analyzed. It is noted that on the cusp of 20 th and 21 st centuries a great leap in the world’s largest army modernization was made. In January 2016, the PRC announced the start of a large-scale reform of the armed forces which ultimate goal is to achieve a new level of manageability and optimal structural construction as well as to ensure the ability of the army to get the victory in the information technology era by 2020. In general, the RPC army reformation is planned for a period up to 2049. As for the elite Special Forces, it is mentioned that the most powerful SOF contingent is comprised of the PRC armed forces. In accordance with the public conceptual paper on military strategy, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is designed to conduct combat operations on the continent, in cooperation with other branches of the armed forces, as part of joint cross-branch groups in order to defeat the enemy, seize the territory, which they occupy etc. It is noted that in the present conditions the Army range of tasks as well as its high-mobility components, including SOF, is expanding. Since 1990, the PLA units have begun to participate in international operations under the authority of the UN, international actions of a humanitarian nature, and the anti-piracy campaign. The PRC also joined the military exercises of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Anti-terrorist Exercises (in particular, in Tajikistan, due to the growing threat of radical Islamist groups invasion, the existence of Uyghur Islamic separatism and terrorism in China). The SOF technical equipment and their combat trainability are improved; world experience is borrowed; specialized research and personnel training are conducted. The SOF own elements consist of the ground, airborne, and naval forces. It is emphasized that China has not established a single authority for SOF management. Special training has become an element of combat readiness in conventional troops, their formation and high-readiness force which dramatically increases the potential of the PRC army in case of asymmetric warfare.