#Cambodia ##中国柬埔寨 #
Text/Meng Yun
Adhering to the diplomatic principle of peaceful coexistence, China has been actively developing friendly relations with all countries in the world, especially the neighboring ASEAN countries, which is a model of good-neighborliness and friendship, and the military and technical cooperation and defense exchanges between the two sides have also been deepening. Following the announcement of joint air combat exercises between China and Thailand, China's assistance to Cambodia's long-range rocket launchers has also become the focus of attention from the outside world. According to the latest report of the Observer Network, China and the Royal Cambodian Army recently held a handover ceremony, and the second batch of Chinese military assistance to Cambodia was officially delivered, including a long-range rocket artillery battalion and related technical equipment.
It is reported that the Royal Cambodian Army announced on its official website a number of AR-2 long-range rockets delivered this time, and local media said that the Cambodian side purchased at least 3 battalions of wheeled self-propelled guns and one battalion of long-range rockets. After the completion of this delivery operation, Cambodia will become the only country in ASEAN countries with a full set of Chinese-made long-range strike artillery equipment, while having relatively strong modern artillery in ASEAN countries, which has greatly helped and improved the country's military strength.
It is understood that the AR-2 long-range rocket launcher can actually be regarded as a foreign trade version of our military's own PHL-03 rocket, which can launch a new generation of precision-guided rockets, and its maximum range can reach 140 kilometers, and after improvement, it can also launch new short-range ballistic missiles with a range of up to 280 kilometers. According to outside analysis, after being equipped with AR-2 long-range rockets, the Royal Cambodian Army actually has one of the strongest long-range artillery forces in the entire ASEAN. Given Cambodia's border problems with both Vietnam and Thailand, the delivery is also seen as a demonstration of Cambodia's strength.
It is worth noting that some reports pointed out that after the Cambodian side purchased the above weapons and equipment, it also purchased the 90B type 122 mm wheeled self-propelled rocket launcher, as well as the corresponding artillery reconnaissance vehicle, artillery command and integrated battlefield management system, supporting the Wanshan series loading vehicle and the artillery subordinate reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle system. In other words, the mainland's domestic weapons and equipment have been "packaged" for import, and more importantly, the Cambodian side is also in accordance with the relevant technical specifications of the Chinese side and the organization of troops to design the organizational structure of these modern artillery, so some analysts call it "Chinese artillery".
Analysts pointed out that in addition to Cambodia, China has exported a variety of medium- and long-range rocket artillery systems to Myanmar, Laos and Thailand at the same time. For example, the DTI-1 ultra-long-range rocket launcher system provided by the Chinese to the Royal Thai Army is a local Thai version of the Continental Defender-1B rocket launcher. The DTI-1 ultra-long-range rocket launcher has an ammunition caliber of up to 406 mm and can fire a simple guided long-range rocket with a range of 180 kilometers, as well as an ultra-long-range precision-guided rocket with a range of 360 kilometers. In addition, the Royal Thai Army has also imported dozens of SR4 122 mm rockets in sets, becoming the first ASEAN country to introduce a new generation of Chinese modular rocket launchers.
It is worth mentioning that in order to cope with Thailand's large-caliber rockets, the Myanmar Army has purchased our SY-400 self-propelled rocket launcher, which can accurately guide rockets and short-range ballistic missiles with a maximum range of 400 kilometers. Analysts pointed out that ASEAN countries are scrambling to import the mainland's rocket artillery systems and use them as a strategic deterrent, which has become an important tool for military diplomacy among these countries.