People's Liberation Army Ground Force Aviation

People's Liberation Army Army Air Corps
中国人民解放军陆军军航空兵
Flag of the People's Liberation Army Ground FOrce
Active	1987–present
Country	People's Republic of China
Allegiance	Chinese Communist Party
Branch	People's Liberation Army Ground Force
Type	Army aviation
Size	? personnel 1040+ aircraft
Part of	People's Liberation Army
Aircraft flown
Attack helicopter	Harbin Z-19, Changhe Z-10
Cargo helicopter	Mil Mi-17
Multirole helicopter	Harbin Z-9, Harbin Z-20
Utility helicopter	Changhe Z-8, Changhe Z-18, Mil Mi-17
Reconnaissance	BZK-005, BZK-007, WZ-7 Soaring Dragon
Transport	Y-7, Y-8, Y-9

The PLA Army Air Corps is the air arm of the People's Liberation Army's Ground Force. Its principal mission is to provide close air support, air assault, transportation, and overall air assistance to the land forces of the PLA. It deploys primordially rotary wing aircraft.^[1]

History

The PLA Army Aviation Corps was established on October 3, 1986, by decision of the Central Military Commission, at the time under the leadership of its chairman Deng Xiaoping, as part of an effort to modernize the organization of the PLA. The Corps started operating in 1987. On January 8, 1988, the first army aviation unit was established in the Beijing Military Region.

The initial units of the army aviation corps used equipment transferred from the PLAAF, including mostly the first Chinese-made helicopter, the Harbin Z-5 (a version of the Mil Mi-4), the licensed-made Z-8 (a version of the French Aérospatiale SA 321 Super Frelon) and the American-made S-70C "Black Hawk" purchased during the Sino-American thaw of the 1980s. The success of the American attack helicopters during the Gulf War impressed the Chinese military command, which put more emphasis on the development of indigenous helicopters. This accelerated program would lead to the introduction in 1994 of the Harbin Z-9 (developed from the French Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin), the Harbin Z-19 (an armed variant of the Z-9, introduced in 2012), the medium attack Changhe Z-10 (introduced in 2012), and the medium utility helicopter Harbin Z-20 (generally based on the Black Hawk in configuration, introduced in 2019).

The progress of the local helicopter industry, however, was slow. The difficulty providing relief after the Wenchuan Earthquake of 2008 brought into clear relief the shortage of helicopters in China, both civilian and military, in particular helicopters capable of operating at high altitudes. The need for more helicopters became apparent and the procurement of military rotary wing aircraft accelerated. While the native Z-19 and Z-10 were already available, the Chinese government tried to accelerate the equipment of full brigades by purchasing a large number of Mil Mi-17 helicopters in 2019, a sign of its desire to accelerate the development of army aviation.^[2]

Organization

By 2013, the army aviation regiments in six military regions were ungraded to brigades. After the 2015 military reforms, the military regions were merged into theaters and each group army within each theater was intended to have an independent Army Aviation brigade.

As of 2023, each of the 13 PLAGF group armies, plus the Tibet and Xinjiang special military regions, had an aviation brigade, for a total of 13 army aviation brigades and 2 air assault brigades. Each army aviation brigade is composed of 2-3 attack helicopter battalions, and 3-4 transport and assault helicopter battalions, for a total of 32 to 48 attack helicopters and 48 to 64 transport helicopters.^[3] The estimated current number of available aircraft runs between 1,000 and 1,500, depending on the source.

The current army aviation units are as follows, the brigade number being usually the same as the group army's number.

• Eastern Theater Command
  • 71st Army Aviation Brigade (attached to the 71st Group Army)
  • 72nd Army Aviation Brigade (attached to the 72nd Group Army)
  • 73rd Army Aviation Brigade (attached to the 73rd Group Army)
• Southern Theater Command
  • 74th Army Aviation Brigade (attached to the 74th Group Army)
  • 121st Air Assault Brigade (attached to the 75th Group Army)
• Northern Theater Command
  • 78th Army Aviation Brigade (attached to the 78th Group Army)
  • 79th Army Aviation Brigade (attached to the 79th Group Army)
  • 80th Army Aviation Brigade (attached to the 80th Group Army)
• Central Theater Command
  • 81st Army Aviation Brigade (attached to the 81st Group Army
  • 82nd Army Aviation Brigade (attached to the 82nd Group Army)
  • 161st Air Assault Brigade (attached to the 83rd Group Army)
• Western Theater Command
  • 76th Army Aviation Brigade (attached to the 76th Group Army
  • 77th Army Aviation Brigade (attached to the 77th Group Army
• The 84th Army Aviation Brigade in the Xinjiang Military Region.
• The 85th Army Aviation Brigade in the Tibet Military Region.

The Beijing Garrison, plus the Macao and Hong Kong Garrisons, are the only major regional subdivisions of the PLA without an attached army aviation brigade (although smaller helicopter units are available).

Equipment

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Variant	In service	Notes
Attack Helicopters
Harbin Z-19	China	attack helicopter/reconnaissance	Z-19WZ	120+[4]
Changhe Z-10	China	Attack/Multirole	WZ-10	200+[4]
Utility Helicopters
Harbin Z-9	China	Utility		120+[4]
Mil Mi-17	Russia	Utility		88[4]
Transport Helicopters
Changhe Z-8	China	Heavy Transport	Y-8A/B/L	135[4]
Mil Mi-17	Russia	Medium Transport		140[4]
Sikorsky S-70	USA	Medium Transport		19[4]
Harbin Z-20	China	Medium Transport		150[4]
Eurocopter EC120 Colibri	France	Light Transport		15[4]
Changhe Z-11	China	Light Transport		53[4]
Fixed-Wing Transports
Xian Y-7	China	transport		2[4]
Shaanxi Y-8	China	Tactical transport		2[4]
Shaanxi Y-9	China	Transport		2[4]
Unmanned aerial vehicle
BZK-007[4]	China	MALE UAV
Harbin BZK-005[4]	China	MALE UAV
CASC CH-4B[4]	China	HALE UAV

References

Citations

Sources

• The International Institute for Strategic Studies (13 February 2024). The Military Balance 2024. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-032-78004-7.Zhang, Dehe. (2013) The PLA Army Aviation Corps (Series of Chinese Army) (English Edition) (p. 1). China Intercontinental Press. Kindle Edition. ISBN 978-7-5085-2484-9

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Structure of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force

PLAGF Headquarters
directly subordinate units

Xinjiang Military District	4th Combined Arms Division 6th Combined Arms Division 8th Combined Arms Division 11th Combined Arms Division 84th Artillery Brigade 84th Air Defense Brigade 84th Special Operations Brigade 84th Army Aviation Brigade
Tibet Military District	52nd Combined Arms Brigade 53rd Combined Arms Brigade 54th Combined Arms Brigade 85th Artillery Brigade 85th Special Operations Brigade 85th Army Aviation Brigade 85th Artillery Brigade 85th Air-Defense Brigade 85th Engineering and Chemical Brigade 7th Electronic Countermeasures Brigade 5th Motorized Transport Brigade
Beijing Garrison	1st Guards Division 3rd Guards Division

Eastern Theater Command
Ground Force

71st Group Army	2nd Combined Arms Brigade 35th Combined Arms Brigade 160th Combined Arms Brigade 178th Combined Arms Brigade 179th Combined Arms Brigade 235th Combined Arms Brigade 71st Artillery Brigade 71st Air Defense Brigade 71st Army Aviation Brigade 71st Special Operations Brigade 71st Engineer-NBC Defense Brigade 71st Service Support Brigade
72nd Group Army	5th Combined Arms Brigade 10th Combined Arms Brigade 34th Combined Arms Brigade 85th Combined Arms Brigade 90th Combined Arms Brigade 124th Combined Arms Brigade 72nd Artillery Brigade 72nd Air Defense Brigade 72nd Army Aviation Brigade 72nd Special Operations Brigade 72nd Engineer-NBC Defense Brigade 72nd Service Support Brigade
73rd Group Army	3rd Combined Arms Brigade 14th Combined Arms Brigade 86th Combined Arms Brigade 91st Combined Arms Brigade 92nd Combined Arms Brigade 145th Combined Arms Brigade 73rd Artillery Brigade 73rd Air Defense Brigade 73rd Army Aviation Brigade 73rd Special Operations Brigade 73rd Engineer-NBC Defense Brigade 73rd Service Support Brigade

Southern Theater Command
Ground Force

74th Group Army	1st Combined Arms Brigade 16th Combined Arms Brigade 125th Combined Arms Brigade 132nd Combined Arms Brigade 154th Combined Arms Brigade 163rd Combined Arms Brigade 74th Artillery Brigade 74th Air Defense Brigade 74th Army Aviation Brigade 74th Special Operations Brigade 74th Engineer-NBC Defense Brigade 74th Service Support Brigade
75th Group Army	31st Combined Arms Brigade 32nd Combined Arms Brigade 37th Combined Arms Brigade 42nd Combined Arms Brigade 122nd Combined Arms Brigade 123rd Combined Arms Brigade 121st Air Assault Brigade 75th Artillery Brigade 75th Air Defense Brigade 75th Special Operations Brigade 75th Engineer-NBC Defense Brigade 75th Service Support Brigade
Hong Kong Combined Arms Brigade Macau Infantry Battalion

Western Theater Command
Ground Force

76th Group Army	12th Combined Arms Brigade 17th Combined Arms Brigade 56th Combined Arms Brigade 62nd Combined Arms Brigade 149th Combined Arms Brigade 182nd Combined Arms Brigade 76th Artillery Brigade 76th Air Defense Brigade 76th Army Aviation Brigade 76th Special Operations Brigade 76th Engineer-NBC Defense Brigade 76th Service Support Brigade
77th Group Army	39th Combined Arms Brigade 40th Combined Arms Brigade 55th Combined Arms Brigade 139th Combined Arms Brigade 150th Combined Arms Brigade 181st Combined Arms Brigade 77th Artillery Brigade 77th Air Defense Brigade 77th Army Aviation Brigade 77th Special Operations Brigade 77th Engineer-NBC Defense Brigade 77th Service Support Brigade

Northern Theater Command
Ground Force

78th Group Army	8th Combined Arms Brigade 48th Combined Arms Brigade 68th Combined Arms Brigade 115th Combined Arms Brigade 202nd Combined Arms Brigade 204rd Combined Arms Brigade 78th Artillery Brigade 78th Air Defense Brigade 78th Army Aviation Brigade 78th Special Operations Brigade 78th Engineer-NBC Defense Brigade 78th Service Support Brigade
79th Group Army	46th Combined Arms Brigade 116th Combined Arms Brigade 119th Combined Arms Brigade 190th Combined Arms Brigade 191st Combined Arms Brigade 200th Combined Arms Brigade 79th Artillery Brigade 79th Air Defense Brigade 79th Army Aviation Brigade 79th Special Operations Brigade 79th Engineer-NBC Defense Brigade 79th Service Support Brigade
80th Group Army	47th Combined Arms Brigade 69th Combined Arms Brigade 118th Combined Arms Brigade 138th Combined Arms Brigade 199th Combined Arms Brigade 203rd Combined Arms Brigade 80th Artillery Brigade 80th Air Defense Brigade 80th Army Aviation Brigade 80th Special Operations Brigade 80th Engineer-NBC Defense Brigade 80th Service Support Brigade

Central Theater Command
Ground Force

81st Group Army	7th Combined Arms Brigade 70th Combined Arms Brigade 162nd Combined Arms Brigade 189th Combined Arms Brigade 194th Combined Arms Brigade 195th Combined Arms Brigade 81st Artillery Brigade 81st Air Defense Brigade 81st Army Aviation Brigade 81st Special Operations Brigade 81st Engineer-NBC Defense Brigade 81st Service Support Brigade
82nd Group Army	6th Combined Arms Brigade 80th Combined Arms Brigade 112th Combined Arms Brigade 127th Combined Arms Brigade 151st Combined Arms Brigade 188th Combined Arms Brigade 196th Combined Arms Brigade 82nd Artillery Brigade 82nd Air Defense Brigade 82nd Army Aviation Brigade 82nd Special Operations Brigade 82nd Engineer-NBC Defense Brigade 82nd Service Support Brigade
83rd Group Army	11th Combined Arms Brigade 58th Combined Arms Brigade 60th Combined Arms Brigade 113th Combined Arms Brigade 131st Combined Arms Brigade 193rd Combined Arms Brigade 83rd Artillery Brigade 83rd Air Defense Brigade 161st Air Assault Brigade 83rd Special Operations Brigade 83rd Engineer-NBC Defense Brigade 83rd Service Support Brigade