In 2016, the People's Liberation Army carried out military reform, of which the army has changed the most, the original 18 group armies were abolished, and 13 group armies were reorganized.
The group army is composed of brigade-level units, including heavy composite brigades, medium synthetic brigades, light composite brigades, army aviation brigades, artillery brigades, etc., and among these brigade-level units, the real absolute main force of the land is undoubtedly the heavy composite brigade, because neither the medium composite brigade nor the light synthetic brigade is equipped with main battle tanks, and it is far inferior to the heavy composite brigade in terms of field air defense fire and long-range artillery support.
At present, the PLA has 29 heavy synthetic brigades, both in terms of quantity and quality, surpassing their American and Russian counterparts, and firmly sitting on the throne of the world's first, so how strong is the PLA heavy synthetic brigade? What is the concept that a heavy synthetic brigade of the PLA costs more than 20 billion in equipment alone? In 2022, Vietnam's military spending was $5.8 billion, and this money could only buy 2 PLA heavy synthetic brigades. At the same time, this money can buy 3 0.55 million tons of drives.
Behind the high cost is naturally expensive equipment, the equipment of the heavy composite brigade is basically tracked heavy vehicles, the main battle tank is 99A (the southern zone is equipped with Type 96), and a brigade is equipped with a total of 112 vehicles. Equipped with a new 125 mm tank gun and various composite armor, the 99A main battle tank is no less comprehensive than the American M1A2 and the German Leopard 2A6.
Following the 99A main battle tank is the 04A infantry tank, which has strong battlefield situational awareness and has more advantages than the American "Bradley" infantry tank in terms of firepower. The Type 07 122-mm howitzers, the Type 11 122-mm 40-mm rocket launchers, the Type 10 120-mm mortars were responsible for providing fire support to the infantry fighting vehicles. The firepower covers and crushes the units of the same level of the US Army.
In addition, the PLA heavy composite brigade has advantages over units at the same level in the US military in field air defense and anti-tank, and in terms of field air defense, the PLA heavy composite brigade is equipped with the Hongqi-17 air defense missile system and the Type 09 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, these two weapons can be responsible for the air security of the ground forces 4000 meters - 12 kilometers, especially the Type 09 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, which can effectively fight against small UAVs that cause headaches to armored targets. On the other hand, the U.S. military only has a relatively low-end Avenger air defense system. The PLA Heavy Composite Brigade also has nine Red Arrow-10 anti-tank missile launchers, which are vehicles specially used for anti-tank warfare, and their missiles have a maximum range of 10 kilometers, far surpassing the Dow anti-tank missiles and Javelin anti-tank missiles equipped by the US military on the "Stryker" armored vehicles and "Bradley" infantry fighting vehicles.
The PLA heavy composite brigade is integrated in attack and defense, and there is no pressure on the plains, plateaus, grasslands and other areas against US and Russian units at the same level, and before, China and Russia have conducted an exercise, and a support battalion under the command of the PLA heavy composite brigade defeated a Russian infantry regiment within 40 minutes.
A support battalion is still so strong in combat power, not to mention an entire heavy synthetic brigade, you must know that a heavy composite brigade has 9 synthetic battalions, including 4 heavy synthetic battalions, 1 artillery battalion, 1 reconnaissance battalion, 1 support battalion, 1 logistics support battalion and 1 air defense battalion. Therefore, there is no pressure at all on a heavy synthetic brigade to destroy a small country.
Of course, although the PLA heavy composite brigade is strong, it is not invulnerable, and it is all-encompassing, like the heavy brigades of other countries, the PLA heavy composite brigade is biased towards field warfare, and is not suitable for street fighting, and the number of supplementary troops for coordinated operations is small, and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict shows that it is difficult for a simple heavy unit to play its value in the absence of infantry. In addition, the heavy composite brigade is not as good as the medium-sized composite brigade dominated by wheeled combat vehicles in terms of mobile combat, including rapid transfer and rapid strike on the battlefield, while the modern battlefield places great emphasis on mobility, and finally there is a lack of sufficient helicopter support, and there is a gap with the US military in terms of air mobility and air firepower output, the PLA has only one army aviation brigade in a group army, equipped with 72-96 helicopters of various types, while the US army has 10 divisions of the 10th Army, each division is equipped with more than 100 helicopters of various types, For example, the 101st Air Assault Division has 500 helicopters of various types at full strength.