PLA theatre commands outlined
Revealed in late August, the latest reorganisation of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will see the abolition of all its group armies (or corps), of which there are currently 18.
While it remains unclear when the group armies will be dissolved, the descriptions below explain the main units and tasks of each joint command.
The theatre commands have been organised so one command should be able to deal with multiple strategic fronts, instead of multiple theatres dealing with one strategic front. The likelihood of mutual support from other theatre commands during localised tensions is thus low, unless a full-scale war
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