The People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) (simplified Chinese: 中国人民解放军陆军; traditional Chinese: 中國人民解放軍陸軍; pinyin: Zhōngguó Rénmín Jiěfàngjūn Lùjūn) is the land-based service branch of the People's Liberation Army. Its regular forces consist of 1.7 million personnel, with an additional 800,000 personnel in reserve, making it the largest active standing army in the world, and second largest in terms of army personnel. The PLAGF furthermore deploys 10,000 main battle tanks, 5,500 armoured personnel carriers, 2,200 infantry fighting vehicles and 25,000 artillery pieces as well as anti-aircraft units. Currently 40% of the ground force divisions and brigades are either armoured or mechanized to deal with potential threats. The PLA Ground Forces has and continues to undergo rapid major upgrades and re-structuring to deal with future land warfare, with front line troops, special forces, and marines given priority in receiving newer modern weapon systems
The PLA has improved its battlefield C4ISR capabilities, with the introduction of satellite communications, wireless networks, and digital radios, army commanders are now able to maintain constant communications with their front-line units while on the move. The bulk of the ground forces have been regularly asked to operate under severe electronic countermeasures conditions in exercises. Also a network-centric warfare capability connecting different combat, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance elements to form an integrated network is being developed.
Read more about People's Liberation Army Ground Force: History, Formations and Units, People's Liberation Army Ground Force Aircraft
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