“Firepower-2014 Sanjie,” an artillery drill held at Sanjie Training Base in Nanjing Military Area Command, concluded on Sept. 24. Its closing also marked the end of all the land forces trans-regional “Firepower-2014” drills organized by the Headquarters of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). From July to September, 11 drills with this codename were conducted in five stages: long-range deployment, comprehensive operations, review and assessment, live-fire, and evacuation. The drills involved around 20,000 service personnel from seven military area commands, the air force, four military academies and several training bases. Various items of artillery equipment were on display.
Codename Meanings
In recent years, PLA land forces have held various drills under actual combat conditions, such as “Mission Action-2013 A,” “Leap Forward-2014 Zhurihe B” and “Firepower-2014 Shandan.” But what do these codenames mean?
Generally speaking, a military drill codename comprises elements such as the theme, time, place and phase. Two elements also suffice. In the case of “Leap Forward-2014 Zhurihe B,” “Leap Forward” means that the drill is to test mobility; “2014” is the year of the drill, also indicating it might be an annual event; “Zhurihe” is the location; and “B” is the phase of the drill.
The first of the “Firepower” drills used “Shandan,” indicating they were held in Shandan County; “Firepower” signifies that the drill focused on weapon capabilities to destroy targets.
Real War Zones
The 11 drills included both scripted content and improvisation. More than 80 scenarios were simulated, including satellite reconnaissance, enemy ground force sabotage, change of deployment route, long-distance air strikes, chemical weapons attack, electronic interference and command post targeted by precision-guided munitions. The commanders’ decision-making capabilities and their ability to handle different situations were tested.
“Firepower-2014” drills are fundamentally different from past drills, which focused just on “fighting” rather than “tactics.” The drill programs have forced troops to adapt to a “real war zone.” Thus, artillery forces and air defense troops have evolved from “practice” to “real combat.”
For instance, in “Firepower-2014 Sanjie,” an artillery brigade was denied the chance to regroup and rest on arriving at the designated area. Instead, they quickly scattered to conceal themselves. Another unit came under chemical weapons attack the minute they entered the drill zone. The unit was ordered to disperse the chemicals within five minutes. But before they were ready, a reconnaissance drone arrived, followed by a ground harassment attack. Commanders from the blue and red teams tested all their offense and defense moves.
