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Joint PLA drill in Tibet sends strong warning to India, say analysts

  • During the training over two days and one night, combined forces carried out a shell raid, electromagnetic attack and espionage, according to CCTV
  • Quality production and absence of propaganda voice-over ‘gives a feeling of strong, real combat’, says military expert

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The PLA’s Tibet Military District mobilised several brigades for the joint exercise. Photo: CCTV
A recent joint operation drill in which the People’s Liberation Army in Tibet deployed more than 10 combat units to seize a battlefield from their “enemy” on a peak in the Himalayas was designed to send a warning to India, experts said.
The Tibet Military District under the Western Theatre Command, which is responsible for China’s border with India, mobilised several brigades and divided them into two teams: the PLA and a rival “blue army”, according to a video aired on state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday.
Helicopters from the Tibet Military District’s army aviation assault unit join the drill. Photo: CCTV
Helicopters from the Tibet Military District’s army aviation assault unit join the drill. Photo: CCTV

Combat units joining the drill included an elite regiment from the military district, alpine troops, forces with tanks and military vehicles, artillery personnel, missile forces, drones, intelligence personnel, army aviation teams, and airborne troops, the CCTV video clip showed.

During the training over two days and one night, the PLA carried out a shell raid by an artillery force, electromagnetic attack, observation and espionage, with a 12-member alpine team in snow camouflage climbing to a peak of over 6,100 metres (20,000 feet) to monitor and collect accurate attack intelligence.

Coordinate data relating to the blue army outpost was sent to the command centre in real time, allowing precision strikes by the artillery and howitzer forces at the front line.

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