Exercises Doctrine

Comprehensively Strengthening Combat Training and War Preparedness | Field Cantonment Training Further Focused on Combat Realism

全面加强练兵备战丨部队野外驻训进一步向实战聚焦

PLA Daily (解放军报) 26 July 2026

Summary

Across multiple field cantonment training sites, PLA Daily correspondent Song Zixun reports that units including a brigade of the 82nd Group Army, a missile element of a brigade of the 83rd Group Army, a brigade of the 78th Group Army, a Rocket Force brigade, a Central Theater Command Air Force surface-to-air missile division, and the Bijie Detachment of the PAP Guizhou General Corps have shifted away from what the article calls the 程序化练兵模式 (programmatic training model) toward on-the-spot exercise control, unknown-variable scenarios, and integrated combined-arms drilling. The article documents a cross-service push to replace scripted, branch-siloed cantonment training with conditions that deny units advance notice of timing, terrain, or threat — the specific institutional problem being that predictable training sequences have historically limited how well units adapt to battlefield tempo. The 78th Group Army brigade's integration of more than 20 joint subjects and the Central Theater Command Air Force's shared cantonment schedule with aviation, radar, and electronic countermeasures forces extend a visible pattern of 体系练兵 (system-of-systems training) being pushed below the theater level into brigade and division training cycles.

Translation

From Preset Conditions to On-the-Spot Exercise Control; From Separate-Branch Training to Integrated Combined-Arms Drilling — Field Cantonment Training Further Focused on Combat Realism

PLA Daily report by correspondent Song Zixun: On the snow-covered high plateau, a brigade of the 82nd Group Army conducted three consecutive high-intensity live-force confrontation exercises within two days; in a deep mountain valley, a brigade of the Rocket Force maneuvered and repositioned at midnight, with launch drills continuing around the clock; deep in dense forest, the Bijie Detachment of the People's Armed Police Guizhou General Corps successively carried out training in difficult and critical subjects including mountain-and-forest search-and-capture and tactical assault……

Over consecutive days, reporters visiting multiple field cantonment training sites across the entire military found that numerous units of different services and arms have broken away from the programmatic training model (程序化练兵模式), coordinating the cantonment training process to combat standards, calibrating the training orientation to battlefield requirements, with field cantonment training further focused on combat realism.

Before dawn, urgent whistle blasts rang out through the cantonment camp of a missile element of a brigade of the 83rd Group Army. With no advance notice and no buffer time, officers and soldiers moved at the order, forming up, loading ammunition, and boarding vehicles — each step compact and orderly. In moments, a steel convoy rolled through dusty gullies and advanced at full speed toward the designated area.

The entire march was a running battle. Special situations (特情) arrived one after another — "enemy" harassment, passage through "contaminated" road sections — and officers and soldiers handled each while continuing to advance, rapidly entering the preparatory position, completing the launch preparation sequence, and immediately commencing simulated fire strikes.

"A real battlefield does not distinguish day from night; enemy situations may appear at any time," said the element commander. During field cantonment training, he explained, they conduct high-intensity continuous training through on-the-spot exercise control of special situations (临机导调特情), forcing officers and soldiers to challenge the limits of body and mind, tap the potential of their equipment, and continuously elevate their combat capabilities.

Unknown time windows, unknown terrain, unknown enemy situations…… Across field cantonment training sites, the content of unit training and the configuration of environments more closely approximate the complex and ever-changing real battlefield.

In the vast desert sky, warplanes roar. An Air Force unit currently conducting field cantonment training has abandoned the conventional training and assessment routine, tempering pilots' combat capabilities throughout with unfamiliar airspace, sudden air situations, and unknown risks.

Departing from familiar training airspace, every sortie is equivalent to confronting a real battlefield environment directly. One pilot remarked with deep feeling: "Although the difficulty of training and assessment has increased substantially, it has allowed us to better adapt to the rhythm of the battlefield."

From single-branch "cantonment training in one location, specialized and refined drilling" to "multi-point force disposition and cross-domain joint cantonment training," multiple units have fully activated training resources, deepened system-of-systems training (体系练兵), and driven the transformation of field cantonment training toward all-domain joint training (全域联训). A brigade of the 78th Group Army has woven more than 20 joint subjects throughout the entire cantonment training process, with air and ground forces routinely mixed in combined formations and operating in synchrony; a surface-to-air missile division of the Central Theater Command Air Force shares a single cantonment training schedule with aviation, radar, and electronic countermeasures forces in the same training area……

"In the past, cantonment training had each service and branch training separately, each playing its own tune; now, with elements integrated for combined-arms drilling (要素融合一体练兵), we are required to be more familiar with the tactics and methods of neighboring units, and our grasp of battlefield rhythm is more precise," said a frontline commander.

Original Chinese

从预设条件到临机导调从分开施训到一体练兵部队野外驻训进一步向实战聚焦解放军报讯记者宋子洵报道：雪域高原，第82集团军某旅两天之内连贯开展3场高强度实兵对抗；深山幽谷，火箭军某旅子夜时分机动转进，发射演练昼夜接续；密林深处，武警贵州总队毕节支队接续展开山林搜捕、战术突击等重难点课目训练…… 连日来，记者探访全军多个野外驻训场发现，多支不同军兵种部队打破程序化练兵模式，以实战标准统筹驻训进程，以战场需求校准练兵导向，野外驻训进一步向实战聚焦。天色未亮，急促的哨声响彻第83集团军某旅导弹分队驻训营地。没有提前通知、没有缓冲时间，官兵闻令而动，编组、装弹、登车，各环节紧凑有序。片刻之间，钢铁车队碾过尘土沟壑，向着预定地域全速开进。行军一路，鏖战一路。遭“敌”袭扰、通过“染毒”路段等特情接踵而至，官兵边开进、边处置，快速进入预备阵地，完成发射准备流程，模拟火力打击随即展开。 “真实战场不分昼夜，敌情可能随时出现。”该分队分队长介绍，野外驻训中，他们通过临机导调特情，开展高强度连贯训练，倒逼官兵挑战身心极限、挖掘装备潜能，不断提升实战本领。未知时段、未知地形、未知敌情……放眼各野外驻训场，部队训练内容、环境设置更加贴合复杂多变的真实战场。大漠长空，战机呼啸。正在野外驻训的空军某部，一改传统训练考核套路，全程以陌生空域、突发空情、未知风险淬炼飞行员实战本领。脱离熟悉的训练空域，每次升空都等同于直面真实战场环境。一名飞行员深有感触地说：“虽然训练考核难度大幅提升，却让我们更好适应了战场节奏。” 从单一兵种“一地驻训、专攻精练”到“多点排兵布阵、跨域联合驻训”，多支部队充分盘活训练资源，深耕体系练兵，推动野外驻训向全域联训转型。第78集团军某旅将20余个联合课目贯穿驻训全程，空地力量常态混合编组、同步作业；中部战区空军地导某师，与同一驻训地域的航空、雷达、电抗等力量共用一张驻训计划表…… “以往驻训都是各军兵种分开施训，各唱各的调；如今要素融合一体练兵，要求我们更加熟悉友邻部队战法打法，对战场节奏的把控更加精准。”一名一线指挥员说。