Cambodia has ushered in the largest fleet ever, China's 60,000-ton ocean-going fleet has arrived at Cambodian ports, the People's Liberation Army will carry 100 elite equipment and the Cambodian army will hold joint exercises, Cambodia may further purchase Chinese domestic equipment. Indian media issued an article worried about "backyard fire".
The 60,000-ton Chinese fleet arrived in a neighboring country, and the Indian media feared a fire in the backyard
According to domestic and foreign media reports, China and Cambodia will hold military exercises codenamed "Golden Dragon 2024".
China and Cambodia have maintained very close military cooperation over the past few years
The Royal Gendarmerie Corps, which is part of the Cambodian army, said it would conduct "counter-terrorism operations and humanitarian relief" exercises with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) at two main bases in Sihanoukville and Kampong Chhnang provinces. The exercise will begin on May 16 and last until May 30.
071-class landing ship "Jinggangshan".
This is the sixth China-Cambodia "Golden Dragon" joint military exercise, and last year, China and Cambodia held a joint naval exercise in Cambodian waters for the first time. According to CCTV reports, this time the PLA dispatched a large fleet. What attracts the most attention is that the fleet is composed of three large warships, including the "Jinggangshan", "Qilianshan", and "Qi Jiguang" ships.
071 dock landing ship
Among them, Jinggangshan and Qilianshan are the 071 large dock landing ships of the same level of our navy, and the 071 dock landing ship has a full load displacement of 25,000 tons, and it is also the only first-class dock landing ship of our navy at present. In addition to the Navy's 8 ships, one ship was successfully exported to the Thai Navy, becoming the largest surface ship in the Navy.
071 on the way to Cambodia, the dock is full of warrior cars and other support vehicles, but there is a strange thing mixed in the lower left corner
The purpose of the PLA 071 to Cambodia this time is very simple, that is, to transport the ground combat forces of the PLA, a 071 can carry up to two battalions of about 900 people, and if you carry ground combat equipment, such as armored vehicles, you can carry the equipment and personnel of one battalion. This time, the two 071s carried 100 elite equipment and more than hundreds of PLA officers and soldiers.
In addition to the 071 landing ship, the Qi Jiguang ship is the largest tonnage and the highest level of modernization of the Chinese Navy, with a full load displacement of 9,000 tons, mainly responsible for training, overseas visits and other tasks.
Qi Jiguang ship
The total tonnage of the three ships dispatched this time has reached the standard of 60,000 tons, and the lineup is huge. The movements of the Chinese navy have attracted the attention of the Indian media, which said that while military exercises between China and Cambodia are not uncommon, they have attracted attention in light of the latest developments at the Ream naval base in Cambodia.
While neither side has provided specific details, one of the locations chosen for the exercise, Sihanoukville, is also home to the disputed Ream naval base.
Ream Naval Base
Indian media said that the Ream naval base is a strategic point and the second military base of the Chinese Navy in the region, and at the end of last month, US satellite images showed that the Chinese Navy had ships deployed at the base, and the United States repeatedly expressed "concern".
According to an investigation by the CSIS think tank in the United States, the PLA warship has been in Cambodia for more than four months. The Ream Naval Base has been expanded with a new pier to allow larger warships to dock in the shallow waters of Ream.
Ream Naval Base
The Indian media believe that the large pier at the Ream base can moor the PLA's aircraft carriers, which will provide an extension of the PLA Navy's presence in the Bay of Bengal and affect the balance of power in the region.
Since China currently has only one overseas naval base in the East African country of Djibouti, the Ream base will increase China's access to the Indian Ocean. The United States is also concerned about China's alleged move to "build" a new naval base in Cambodia.
Ream Naval Base is located southwest of Phnom Penh
In fact, China has repeatedly refuted rumors on this point, saying that this base is mainly to support Cambodia's naval construction and regional security, and Cambodia has also indicated that this base is mainly to support Cambodia's naval construction and regional security, but it still cannot withstand the full hype of the West.
It can be said that the Americans are the least qualified to come out and point fingers at China, and the United States has hundreds of overseas bases around the world, deploying more than 100,000 people, and vigorously pursuing world hegemony. And China is only one overseas military base in Djibouti in the world, and the second one has not yet been seen, and the United States has begun to hype it up first, once again showing the outside world the double standard face of the United States.
The Indian media is worried about the "fire in the backyard", in fact, it is completely "salty and carrot and careless", and the exercise between the People's Liberation Army and the Cambodian army can be said to have nothing to do with India, after all, Cambodia has a Malacca across India.
The Indian Navy is still far from being strong in the face of the Chinese Navy
I have to say that a series of views in the Indian media look very strange, as if any military deployment made by China is directly related to India, and it has to be said that India really thinks too highly of itself. As far as the strength of the Indian Navy is concerned, in front of the PLA Navy and even in front of the South China Sea Fleet, it is simply not enough to see.
The China-Cambodia joint military exercises and a series of movements of the People's Liberation Army in the South China Sea have clearly deterred the Philippines
At present, in the South China Sea, the United States and the Philippines have successively held provocative military exercises, successively striking at simulated targets of "Chinese fishing boats" and decommissioned Chinese ships, and staged a landing operation, which has obvious implications for pointing a sword at China.
056A frigate
From this point of view, the "Golden Dragon-2024" joint military exercise is even more meaningful at this sensitive time. According to reports from the US media and other sources, there are also 2 056A corvettes at the Ream base, which is the smallest 1,000-ton frigate in the PLA at present, with a total of 50 ships built.
Then near Cambodia, the PLA currently deploys a very powerful amphibious combat force, 2 frigates, 2 dock landing ships and a training ship, which can carry 2 battalions of troops.
It can be said that in wartime, the PLA has the ability to quickly mobilize its fleet and several composite battalions to carry out operations in the South China Sea to seize islands, and then, under the cover of fully relying on the combat strength of the air force and the navy/coast guard, the elite forces of these battalions can be said to be able to sweep away all the foreign troops that have invaded and occupied China's islands and reefs in the South China Sea, including the troops of Vietnam and the Philippines, and are not at all the opponents of the PLA's cutting-edge composite battalions.
The 055 Zunyi ship, which has recently been active near Mischief Reef, is less than 300 kilometers away from the Philippines
What is even more unacceptable to the Philippines is that in addition to this huge fleet going to Cambodia, there are more PLA surface combat forces in the waters around the Philippines, including the destroyer fleet led by a 055 large drive, as well as the 055 large drive, 052D large drive, 054A frigate and 815A electronic reconnaissance ship operating near the coast of the Philippines.
This shows that in wartime, the PLA can seize sea and air supremacy in the waters near the Philippines at any time, and send combat troops to all the islands and reefs occupied by the Philippines, so as to completely expel the Philippine invading army.
Therefore, the joint exercises of the PLA and the Cambodian army, as well as the recent series of military maneuvers, are also a silent deterrent to the Philippines. In the future, if the Philippines wants to provoke in the South China Sea, it must weigh whether its own weight is enough, and don't think that with the support of the United States, it will be invincible in the world.
Once a conflict is caused by its provocative actions, the Philippines will become an outcast, and the United States will not fully intervene at all.
PLZ-10 120mm履带自行迫榴炮
Before the military exercises, the 071 landing ship transported "private cargo", and Cambodia may order it in bulk
According to CCTV media disclosures, the Navy's 071 is equipped with 100 elite equipment of the PLA ground forces, including the Warrior series armored vehicles of the light synthetic brigade and a tracked mortar, and the weapons and equipment have been unloaded at Cambodian ports.
Of course, sharp-eyed netizens found that the light synthetic brigade dispatched this time even carried a PLZ-10 120mm tracked self-propelled mortar of a heavy synthetic brigade, in fact, the light brigade will not be equipped with this kind of weapon, only the heavy composite brigade with tanks and infantry vehicles as the main equipment will be equipped with self-propelled mortars.
PLZ-10 120mm履带自行迫榴炮
Therefore, it is very likely that the Cambodian Army has the intention of buying tracked mortars, and the Chinese side will send one to Cambodia in advance for display. After all, Cambodia is a die-hard user of Chinese artillery equipment, and the Cambodian Army is currently equipped with a large number of Chinese-made weapons and equipment, ranging from old to new modern equipment.
SH-1 truck gun
Last year, according to foreign media revelations and local disclosures, it was known that Cambodia ordered all the equipment of a military-level artillery brigade from China at one time, including 60 52 times the diameter of 155mm SH-1 truck guns, 12 90B 122mm rocket launchers, and 40 AR-2 long-range rocket launchers.
Among them, although the SH-1 truck gun is the first generation of truck guns in the mainland, it has subsequently adopted the modern technology of the 181 truck gun in the mainland, and its performance has reached the world's leading level.
AR-2 long-range rocket artillery
The 90B 122mm rocket launcher is a foreign trade upgrade version of the 81 type 122mm rocket artillery used by our army, and the performance is acceptable, and the AR-2 300mm rocket artillery is a "devastating" weapon for the Cambodian army, because the AR-2 rocket launcher is actually a foreign trade version developed on the basis of the 03 type long-range fire used by our army.
AR-2 long-range rocket artillery
It can be said that after Cambodia ordered all the equipment of the army-level artillery brigade from China, Cambodia's artillery strength surpassed that of neighboring Vietnam for the first time, and Vietnam mainly relied on towed artillery and a small number of 2S3 tracked 152-mm howitzers, and the gap between the artillery force and the Cambodian artillery has been significantly widened.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the Cambodian Army has taken a fancy to the PLZ-10 120mm tracked self-propelled mortar, the mortar is currently only equipped with a large number of Chinese and Russian weapons, this weapon is the characteristics of both mortars and howitzers, which can be fired directly and intermittently, and even shot at a large elevation angle to hit anti-slope targets.
The People's Liberation Army has identified this type of equipment as a support weapon for the troops, of course, in recent years, there have been voices that this weapon is not powerful enough, but it is necessary to take into account that this thing is battalion-level firepower, and look at what is still being used for battalion-level support firepower in neighboring countries, even the Americans use M1064, a tracked vehicle carrying a manual mortar, and the PLA's self-propelled mortars do not know where they are higher.
It can be said that this time, Cambodia will take advantage of this opportunity to purchase another batch of Chinese-made weapons.
Some of the content sources in the article: 1. The Chinese troops participating in the exercise arrived in Cambodia Dawan News