| People's Liberation Army Air Force Airborne Corps | |
|---|---|
| 中国人民解放军空降兵军 | |
 Airborne Corps Badge | |
| Active | September 17, 1950–present |
| Country |  People's Republic of China |
| Allegiance |  Chinese Communist Party[1] |
| Branch | People's Liberation Army Air Force |
| Type | Air force ground forces and special forces |
| Role | |
| Size | 40,000 personnel |
| Garrison/HQ | Xiaogan,Hubei[needs update] |
| Nicknames | "Thousand Year Army" (千年军) Heavenly troops from the sky (天降神兵) |
| Mottos | 首战用我，用我必胜 (I am the first to be deployed, when I am deployed I will win) |
| Anniversaries | September 17 |
| Engagements | Chinese Civil War Korean War Sino-Vietnamese conflicts (1979–1991) |
| Insignia | |
| Patch |  |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Helicopter | Harbin Z-20KS |
| Attack helicopter | Harbin Z-20KA Changhe Z-10K Harbin Z-9W |
| Cargo helicopter | Harbin Z-20K Changhe Z-8 Mil Mi-171 |
| Utility helicopter | Harbin Z-9 |
ThePeople's Liberation Army Air Force Airborne Corp (Chinese:中国人民解放军空降兵军) is acorps gradeairborne andair assault force subordinated toPeople's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) headquarters.[2] Before April 2017, the Airborne Corps was called thePLAAF 15th Airborne Corps.[3]
The Airborne Corps is a rapid reaction force tasked with attacking "political, military, and economic strategic key points", capturing targets or areas in the enemy rear, and conducting special operations in the enemy rear. It may also have domestic security roles.[4]
On July 17, 1950, theCentral Military Commission made plans to establish the People's Liberation Army Air Force 1st Ground Forces Brigade. It was officially founded on September 17, 1950, which is celebrated as the unit's anniversary,[5] with the first parachute jump happening on September 29, 1950.[5] Initially, the brigade only had 5030 members.[5] In December, it was renamed to the 1st Ground Forces Division, in 1955 it was renamed to the Paratrooper's Division, then to the Airborne Corps Division in April 28, 1957.[5][3]
The airborne force expanded in July 1961 with the addition of 15th Corps and its subordinate 44th and 45th Divisions. The corps was renamed as the15th Airborne Corps and the existing airborne division was added to it; the corps third division was the 43rd Division.[6] The new formation was subordinated to PLAAF headquarters and the Wuhan Military Region air force.[6] It was headquartered inXiaogan,Hubei.[6][3] The corps capabilities were limited as it was made of lightly armed infantry.[6]
The corps deployed units toWuhan in 1967 during theCultural Revolution to suppress a regional uprising.[7]
In 1985, as part of Deng Xiaoping's force reductions, one division disbanded and the others downsized into brigades.[6]
The corps deployed toBeijing during the1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre tosuppress the protests.[7]
The corps was designated as the "lead element" of the PLA'srapid reaction force in 1992;[6][3] it had been training for the role since the late 1980s.[3] The brigades were upgraded back to divisions;[6] by 1993, there were three - the 43rd, 44th and 45th - with 10,000 troops each.[3] The addition of heavy weapons began before the 1990s, but was limited by air mobility restrictions.[8] Air mobility was improved when the PLAAF began receivingIlyushin Il-76 strategic airlifters in the mid-1990.[9]
The Airborne Corps assisted in disaster relief after the1998 China floods.[5]
The Airborne Corps were crucial in disaster relief after the2008 Sichuan Earthquake, when on May 14, 2008, 15 airborne corps paratroopers parachuted intoMao County, which was inaccessible due to the earthquake, providing crucial initial aid, and setting up 6 landing zones inWenchuan and Mao Counties for more airborne corps soldiers to be deployed.[5][10]
The 15 paratroopers, consisting of Liu Wenhui, Li Yushan, Wang Lei, Zhao Haidong, Liu Zhibao, Lei Zhisheng, Yin Yuan, Zhao Sifang, Wang Junwei, Ren Tao, Li Zhenbo, Yu Yabin, Guo Longshuai, Li Yajun and Xiang Haibo, were nicknamed the "15 warriors of the Airborne Corps" (空降十五勇士), gained significant coverage on Chinese media. It was the first time the airborne corps completed a parachute jump with no information on the weather, no ground markings or communications on the ground.[5][10]
The "Thunder Gods" special forces unit[11] was established on September 30, 2011.[5]
In April 2017, the corps was renamed as the Airborne Corps. The subordinate divisions were disbanded, and the six regiments previously subordinated to the divisions were upgraded to brigades.[3]
In 2018, the corps was reorganized to integrate combined arms units at the brigade level.[12] It participated in the PLAAF's annual "Red Sword" exercise for the first time that year; "Red Sword" emphasizes force-on-force confrontations.[13]
Since its establishment in 1950, over 17,000 Airborne Corps soldiers have beenkilled in action.[14]
In 2023 and 2024, Chinese officials visited Russia to evaluate and acquire Russian equipment to strengthen the PLAAF Airborne Corps.[15]
Airborne officers receive cadet training at theArmy Special Operations Academy inGuilin (while keeping their separate Air Force status). After graduation they receive further training at the airborne corps training base.[7]
Until 1999, cadet training was done atPLA Army colleges. From 1999, this was done at the Guilin Air Force College, which was founded as an antiaircraft artillery school in the 1950s; the named changed to the PLAAF Airborne Troop College in 2001. Reductions tomilitary colleges closed the Airborne Troop College in 2017, and it was replaced by the training base.[7]
Exercises since 2018 have had an increased focus on sophistication and realism.[16]
The 15th Airborne Corps consisted of:
It also included a special forces brigade, a helicopter brigade, and various support units.[8]
The 2017 reforms upgraded most of the regiments to brigades and subordinated them directly to the corps. The divisions, and the 129th and 132nd Regiments, were abolished.[11]
According to a 2024 Taiwan military publication, the 127th, 128th and 130th Airborne Brigades are air assault brigades.[11] In 2025, the International Institute of Strategic Studies listed the corps as having five airborne and one air assault brigades.[17]
Each airborne brigade has four combined arms battalions, an artillery battalion, a support battalion, an anti-air battalion and a logistics battalion.[18] Airborne brigades are distributed among the theater commands. The Airborne Corps has peacetime control; they do not belong to theater command air forces. Theater commands have wartime control.[11]
The special forces brigade became a special operations brigade,[18] and included the "Thunder Gods".[11] (MUCD 95848[19].) The helicopter brigade and shipping regiment became an aviation transport brigade. Various support units were consolidated into a support brigade.[18]
The teaching brigade from the disbanded 44th Division and the driver training regiment were transferred to the Guilin Airborne Academy.[18]
The Airborne Corps' motto roughly translates to "I am the first to be deployed, when I am deployed I will win" (Chinese:首战用我，用我必胜).[5][20]
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The corps was a predominantly light infantry force to the late-2000s, and described as a "'traditional motorized force' that emphasized parachuting operations" prior to 2018. A helicopter unit was created in 2005, and expanded to a regiment in 2012. In the 2010s, the corps developed capabilities for mechanized warfare.[21]
The corps has limited organicairlift mainly in the form of light- and medium-transportmilitary transport aircraft. Large-scale airlifts require PLAAF transport aircraft. Prior to 2016, the PLAAF's Il-76 fleet was sufficient to move one airborne division across China at time. From 2016, capacity was augmented by theXi'an Y-20. By 2022, there were 31 Y-20s and 20 Il-76s.[22]
| Name | Origin | Type | Variant | In service | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armoured fighting vehicles | |||||
| ZBD-03 | China | Infantry fighting vehicle Command vehicle[23] | ZBD-03 ZZZ-03 | 180[17] 4[17] | |
| CS/VN3[17] | China | Infantry mobility vehicle | Modified variant[17] | ||
| SX-1[24][25] | China | Infantry mobility vehicle | |||
| Artillery/anti-tank | |||||
| PL-96 | China | Towed artillery | ~54[17] | ||
| PH-63 | China | Towed artillery | ~54[17] | ||
| 82 mm mortar | China | Mortar | Some[17] | ||
| 100 mm mortar | China | Mortar | 54[17] | ||
| HJ-9 | China | Anti-tank guided missile | Some[17] | Self-propelled[17] | |
| Helicopters | |||||
| Z-8KA | China | CSAR | 8[17] | ||
| Z-9WZ | China | Multirole | 12[17] | ||
| WZ-10K | China | Attack helicopter | 8[17] | ||
| Z-20K | China | Medium transport | 6[17] | ||
| Transport | |||||
| Y-8 | China | Tactical airlift | 6[17] | ||
| Y-7 | China | Light transport | 2[17] | ||
| Y-12D | China | Light transport | 12[17] | ||
| Y-5 | China | Light transport | 20[17] | ||
| Air defense | |||||
| QW-1[26] | China | Surface-to-air missile | |||
| PG-87 | China | Anti-aircraft gun | 54[26] | ||
Chinese paratroopers have participated in theInternational Army Games several times. They ranked first in the Airborne Platoon competition in 2015[27] and 2017.[28]
I am a member of the People's Liberation Army. I promise that I will follow the leadership of the Communist Party of China...
| Field Armies -野战军 (1949–50) | |
|---|---|
| Army Groups -兵团 (1948–55) | |
| Corps -军 (1948–52) Infantry Corps -步兵军 (1952–60) Army Corps -陆军军 (1960-85) |
|
| Group armies -陆军集团军 (1985–2017) | |
| Group Armies -陆军集团军 (2017–) | |
| Air Force Corps -空军军 (1957-) | |
| Air Defense Force Corps -防空军军 (1955-57) | |
| Railway Corps -铁道兵军 (1956-58) | |
