PLA'S Joint Logistic Support Force

Background

1. Post Operation DESERT STORM (1991), the PLA identified many of its logistic inadequacies and based on its examination of various military logistics models, established ‘Joint Logistic Departments’ in the erstwhile seven Military Region headquarters in 2000. However, the logistics responsibility remained divided between the General Armament Department (GAD) responsible for armament support and General Logistics Department (GLD) responsible for 'logistics support', thereby, leaving the system suboptimal. The US action in Afghanistan during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM drove the PLA again into real meaningful doctrinal reforms. Consequently, in 2004, the former Jinan Military Region began trials on joint operational logistics based on task oriented joint force and established a joint logistics structure in 2007. The lessons, thereof, were the basis of joint logistics reforms that were initiated by President Xi in 2015.

Logistics Reforms

2. Organisational Restructuring. The reforms witnessed the formation of CMC Logistic Support Department (LSD) from the former GLD and it was mandated to provide strategic planning and standardization of major policies, to include, coordination of military-civil strategy related to strategic reserves, defence industry, scientific research, rail, road, air and maritime transportation and mobilisation for the PLA and reserve forces. The JLSF was established on 13 Sep 2016 as part of the CMC and it was made responsible for the execution of the joint logistics system for the forces. Its headquarters is at Wuhan, co-located with the mother Joint Logistic Support Base. The JLSF has five Joint Logistic Support Centres, one supporting each Theatre Command and staffed by personnel from all the services. The Creation of JLSF has resulted in PLAAF and PLAN transferring many responsibilities of their depots, supply bases, hospitals, maintenance and repair units to the control of the JLSF HQ at the Theatre Commands in which they are located.

3. Joint Logistic Support Base & Centres. Joint Logistic Support Base at Wuhan and the five Joint Logistic Support Centres form a modern joint logistics system integrating logistic units and capabilities, providing centralized and decentralized support as required, as well as developing joint logistics tactics, research and field trials. Joint logistic system provides the main support, supplemented by the services in a unified structure with a division of responsibilities for general and specialized support capabilities. The logistic support centers comprise of units, facilities and functions to provide various types of logistics supports to the PLA units in the theatre as well as the PLA forces transiting through the theatre region. The logisti support includes Theatre Joint Logistic Brigade, transport units, hospitals and mobile medical units, oil depots and field fuel units, ammunition Depots, Quartermaster depots, maintenance and repair units, construction groups and finance units. The centres can also mobilize civilian assets, to include, transport services such as rail, motor, air and maritime transport for the military requirement.

4. Joint Logistic Support Brigades/ Battalions. Each Theatre Command has a Joint Logistic Support Brigade. Its functions are to exercise functional control over all static organisations like depots and warehouses in the theatre, coordinate with civil administration and ensure supply chain management. Units under the brigade include motor transport, medical, fuel, material and repair units. The brigades have specialized equipment to anticipate requirements and provide precision logistics support. There are Contingency Logistic Support Brigades and Contingency Logistic Depots that are also available on mobilization. WTC, owing to its large geographical area of responsibility and harsh terrain conditions, has Qinghai Joint Logistic Command (QTLC), which controls the main depots at Xining, Golmud and Lhasa and has specialist logistic units under it. At Corps level, each Combined Corps has one Joint Logistic Support Brigade. The Brigade is modular for rapid logistic support with a logistic unit, recovery and maintenance unit, satellite communication unit, medical unit, air field maintenance unit and a fuel-unit. Each Combined Arms Brigade (CAB) has a Logistic Support Battalion that comprises of seven mobile support groups that include field hospital, field fuel company, transportation company, repair & recovery detachment, supply support group, transport unit and a maintenance company. A battalion commander can directly dispatch eight rescue and repair teams including vehicle repair team, armour repair team, logistics equipment repair team and rescue team. A Combined Arms Battalion has a Logistic Support Company that has one platoon each of engineer, repair & recovery and transport. As part of the mechanisation, all elements of the field formations are mobile and many are based even on tracked vehicles.

5. Informatisation of Logistics. The informatisation of PLA led to JLSF identifying information technology as the core for its Precision Logistic Support, wherein, the command and control system would provide a common operational picture and the database monitoring system will forecast & track consumption rates as well as stock of supplies. BeiDou would provide accurate location of units dispersed on the battlefield. A rapid message system and modular logistic units will provide greater delivery speed and flexibility for achieving precision logistics. Such a system is considered an operational imperative to support the complex, dynamic battlefield environment in future, improve overall logistics efficiency and reduce duplication & waste of resources. Towards this, the JLSF has established a Joint Support Big Data Centre to support information integration, facilitate rapid decision making and coordinate civil-military integration.

6. Civil-Military Integration for Logistics. The Chinese concept of civil-military integration is for the two to reinforce each other. Military Civil Fusion (MCF) is likely to give a big boost to the operational logistics for the PLA, to include, inventory management, faster mobilization of logistics, efficient disbursement of supplies right till forward troops and optimisation of PLA resources during peace as well war, by leveraging the technological advancement in civilian sector. An example of civil military integration is the 2018 PLAAF experiment with a private company to use unmanned aerial vehicle to transport supplies and spare parts to far flung units and a trial in June 2019, wherein, an unmanned plane delivered cargo weighing more than 500 kg after a flight of 500 km.

7. Implications of Joint Logistic Support System. Creation of JLSF has greatly enhanced PLA's combat capability. A fully effective JLSF is likely to achieve precision logistics capability to meet the requirements of a dynamic battlespace, implying that prolonged logistic buildup prior to hostilities may not be required. Use of civilian infrastructure and resources by PLA during conflict would also make identification of military forces difficult by adversaries. JLSF would facilitate rapid transition from a peacetime to wartime posture due to centralized control of all transportation assets and the use of niche technology for logistics, including drones, will increase PLA's capability to sustain during the combat. PLA'S joint logistics, strategic delivery and integrated joint operations capabilities is likely to result in a paradigm change in the strategy for combat, which is likely to facilitate even expeditionary operations by PLA.