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The People's Liberation Army Rocket Force, formerly the Second Artillery Corps, is the strategic and tactical missile force of the People's Republic of China. The PLARF is the 4th branch of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and controls China's arsenal of land-based ballistic, hypersonic, cruise missiles—both nuclear and conventional.
- Strategy
- Armament
- Disposition
- Conclusion and Recommendations
- Notes
China’s 2019 defense white paper identified that, while China has downsized the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), it has expanded the PLARF because it “plays a critical role in maintaining China’s national sovereignty and security.”5 Chinese leadership views the PLARF as a significant contribution to “strategic balance” between China and its main str...
It is important to understand the varying missile systems fielded by the PLARF in order to devise adequate countermeasures. Each missile described below will include whether the missile is confirmed to be armed with a nuclear warhead, a conventional warhead, or if it is dual-capable; in other words, if there are conventional and nuclear variants of...
Overall PLA forces are divided into five theater commands, and each command has a distinct mission (see figure 3).50There is some confusion as to whether PLARF units in these theater commands report directly to the theater commander or are directly controlled by Chairman Xi Jinping and the Central Military Commission. Even if PLARF units are under ...
The PLARF represents a formidable force to enhance China’s military objectives, and one that is very foreign to U.S. military planners, as the last U.S. ground-based missile, the Pershing II, was retired in 1987 to comply with the INF Treaty with the Soviet Union.61Seeing a capability gap in the forces of its two closest rivals, China seized an opp...
Susan Turner Haynes, Chinese Nuclear Proliferation: How Global Politics is Transforming China’s Weapons Buildup and Modernization(Lincoln, NE: Potomac Books, 2016), 90.“Nuclear Weapon Modernization Continues but the Outlook for Arms Control Is Bleak: New SIPRI Yearbook Out Now,” Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), 15 June 2020, accessed 15 M...Hans M. Kristensen, Robert S. Norris, and Matthew G. McKinzie, Chinese Nuclear Forces and U.S. Nuclear War Planning (Washington, DC: The Federation of American Scientists and the Natural Resources...Daniel R. DePetris, “Fact: 95% of China’s Cruise and Ballistic Missile Inventory Would Violate INF Treaty,” The Skeptics (blog), The National Interest (website), 6 June 2020, accessed 12 March 2021...The People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) is the main strategic missile force of the PLA and consists of at least 120,000 personnel.: 259 It controls China's nuclear and conventional strategic missiles. China's total nuclear arsenal size is estimated to be between 100 and 400 thermonuclear warheads.
The PLA Rocket Force’s Conventional Missiles. By Lawrence “Sid” Trevethan. April 2023. Proceedings. Vol. 149/4/1,442. Need to Know. View Issue. Comments. The People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA’s) former Second Artillery Force was upgraded from a branch to a full military service—the PLA Rocket Force (PLARF)—on 31 December 2015. 1 ...
Aug 2, 2023 · CNN — China has revealed two new leaders of its People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force this week in a surprise shake-up that has raised questions about the inner workings at the top of...
What is the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force’s (PLARF’s) role in the People’s Liberation Army of 2020 and beyond? The People’s Republic of China (PRC) Central Military Commission (CMC) elevated the then-Second Artillery Corps into a service in late 2015 and renamed it the PLA Rocket Force.
Dec 22, 2022 · Overview. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is the military arm of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’ or China’s) ruling Communist Party. Since 2018, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has referred to China as the “pacing” threat or challenge for the U.S. military.
