Firepower series focus on tactics
From July 1 to mid-September, the General Staff Headquarters will stage seven live-fire drills in the Firepower series in Qingtongxia and Shandan bases. At Qingtongxia, participants must confront rivals independently, maneuver according to unrehearsed instructions and will be graded precisely. The drills assess their capabilities in suppressing the enemy. At Shandan, the focus of the tests shifted to army-aviation air defense operations. Decision-making, command and quick strikes were closely monitored. Army-aviation skills and weaponry were evaluated throughout the combat exercise.
Confronting the enemy independently. At Qingtongxia, the artillery combat training comprised three parts: combat command; actual combat conditions; and intelligent targeting. The Red and Blue forces were required to respond to constantly changing situations. At Shandan, the exercise supervision department no longer acted the dual role of judge and player. This time, it only gave mission briefings and time and scale restrictions. The Red and Blue forces had to monitor weather conditions, decide flying heights and attack directions and secure logistics support independently.
More complicated combat environments. At Qingtongxia, both sides fought on a simulated battlefield with real equipment and competed hard in reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance, interference and counter-interference, advancing and blocking, suppressing and counter-striking. At Shandan, participating units were required to show their strength in air-ground coordination. Manned and unmanned jamming devices and ground electronic countermeasure equipment were mobilized to create a complex electromagnetic environment while high-speed drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, aerial and infrared balloon targets, simulated cruise missiles, air-to-ground missiles, and attack aircraft were mobilized to intensify air threats.
Testing weaponry. At Qingtongxia, artillery units were required to carry out long-range attacks at minimum cost and as quickly as possible. It was the first time that such a wide range of projectiles were launched against such a range of targets in one drill. Air defense units had to quickly occupy unfamiliar terrain, quickly strike with randomly selected weapons at randomly chosen targets and quickly withdraw as required. It tested whole units and their weaponry.
Trouble-shooting. The exercises were designed to identify problems and weaknesses as supervisors gave no orders or limits. Expert panels constantly commented as both sides operated in actual combat conditions. Finding and solving problems was the significant part of the drill, so evaluations had to be done in a just and scientific manner and victory or loss were played down. The goal was to iron out the bottleneck issues damaging fighting capacity and identify systemic problems.
