PLA Army Air Defence in Tibet Military

Command

In October 2010, China’s PLA carried out its first air-ground live ammunition exercise in
Tibet. According to the reports published in the official Chinese Media, troops of air force,
armor, artillery and electronic warfare divisions participated in the exercise. The
photographs of the exercise shows Chinese made Fēi Nú-6 (FN-6), theFlying Crossbow-6
Surface to Air Missile being fired during the exercise. However, no details were available to
confirm if any other air defence weapon participated in the exercise or not, or if the FN-6
units which participated in the exercise were integral to Tibet military district (now
upgraded to Tibet Military command) or not.
The PLA Army formations under Tibet Military District (MD) at that time were three
Brigades with a Signals regiment and support elements. The identity of the AA unit in the
Tibet MD, if any, was not known and it was more than likely that the AA Regiment
participating in the exercise was not part of Tibet MD.

Two years later, in July 2012, PLA reported that it had carried out live test firing of new
SAM system, later identified as the HQ 16 which had been operationalized by the PLA in
2011 only. The test firing was conducted by Lanzhou Military Region in area opposite
Ladakh and involved at least three separate launches against enemy targets in ‘South East’
direction. Though it was ostensibly meant as a message intended to counter increasing US
presence in Asia, the location of the tests made it clear that the message was equally
targeted towards India also.

The HQ 16 missile units participating in the test firing, besides the firing itself, were tasked
to gather technical information about the missile performance at high altitude areas and the
attendant logistic & technical issues for it was the first time that the missile systems were
being test fired at an altitude of 5000 meters (16,400 feet). This experience would stand in
good stead when PLA conducted its next exercise in the region.

It was in May 2014 that PLA carried out an ‘anti-air’ drill in Tibet in which the HQ-16
Surface to Air Missiles(SAM) were once again the centre of attention. Unlike 2012 when
only test firing was carried out by the missile system, this time around the exercise included
deployment exercise as well as live firing.

As the identity of the participating unit was not revealed by PLA, it was left open to
speculation if the deployment exercise was merely a ‘proof of concept’ or a permanent
deployment.
Just a couple of months later, a post in the Chinese Defence blog revealed that the missile
unit was part of 651st Independent Air Defence Brigade.
It could now be confirmed that the HQ 16 unit was part an integral formation of the Tibet
MD and that it was in Tibet to stay.

No details about the 651 Independent Air Defence Brigade could however be known and
remained unclear.

The only known Air Defence unit, with the same numeral designation, was the 651stAnti-
Aircraft (AA) Artillery Regiment but it was known to have been equipped with AA guns
only. If one was to consider that the Regiment had by now been designated as a Brigade and
at least one missile unit (equipped with HQ 16) was part of it, it was fair to assume that 651
AAA Regiment had, like other PLA Regiments, undergone reorganization to be converted
into a Brigade.
In 2017, when the two Asian giants had a standoff over Doklam, PLA carried out large scale
military drills in the Tibet Autonomous Region(TAR). The PLA press release talked of “two
exercises” and that one of the exercise involved “scenarios such as rapid deployment, multi-
unit joint strike and anti-aircraft defense”. The videos and photographs leaked online
revealed that the PLA had moved HQ 16 SAM and HQ 17 by rail to TAR, making it a first that
HQ 17 had been moved to Tibet.
As is the usual practice, no details of the Air Defence units was revealed by PLA.

It was much later in 2018, again from the Chinese Defence Blog, that the details of 651
Independent AD Brigade came to be known. The Brigade was reportedly the enlarged
651st Anti-Aircraft Artillery regiment which had been reorganized in 2012 with the HQ 16
SAM unit coming on the order of battle of the Brigade. The other AD systems held by the
Brigade were said to bePG59 (57mm AAA) guns, PG99 (35mm AAA) guns and also the HQ-
7A SAM, HQ-16 SAM and NH-6 MANPADS.

Going by standard organisations, it can be assessed that the 651 has a unit each of HQ 16
and HQ-7A missiles systems while the guns systems and the portable NH-6( probably the
FN-6 ?) equip at least two units making a total of four units in the Brigade.
The details of the unit equipped with HQ 17 missile unit which was moved to TAR in August
2017 are yet to be confirmed, and whether it is now forms part of Tibet Military District or
if it was moved to Tibet only for the exercise.

As is wont, one piece of information revealed by China may clarify one detail but it also adds
a new puzzle to be solved.

The complete picture of ground based Air Defence troops in TAR is yet to be known.

References
PLA unit of the day: 651st Independent Air Defense Brigade, Tibet MD ,China Defence Blog,
June 24, 2018, http://china-defense.blogspot.com/2018/06/pla-unit-of-day-651st-
independent-air.html
B Raman, PLA CONDUCTS FIRST AIR-GROUND LIVE AMMUNITION DRILL IN TIBET,
OCTOBER 26, 2010 http://intellibriefs.blogspot.com/2010/10/pla-conducts-first-air-
ground-live.html
PLA conducts first air ground live ammunition drill in Tibet
http://www.indiandefencereview.com/news/pla-conducts-first-air-ground-live-
ammunition-drill-in-tibet/
Zhao Lei, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau site of PLA war games, China Daily, 2017-07-
17http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2017-07/17/content_30133519.htm
CHINA’S PLA READYING MISSILES TO STUN INDIAN AIR POWER, Indian Defense News,
August 28, 2017, http://www.indiandefensenews.in/2017/08/chinas-pla-readying-
missiles-to-stun.html
China missile test unveils fear of US in Asia Pacific https://defencereport.com/china-
missile-test-unveils-fear-of-us-in-asia-pacific-24/
Zi Yang, China’s PLA readying missiles to counter Indian air power, August 217,
2017, http://www.atimes.com/article/chinas-pla-readying-missiles-stun-indian-air-
power/
People’s Daily Online, February 13, 2013 http://en.people.cn/90786/8128497.html