Braving the Scorching Sun, Battling the Heat Waves, Forging the Blade! Forces Across the Military Consolidate the Foundation for Victory in Sweltering Conditions
Forces Across the Military Carry Out Solid Combat-Realistic Training Under High-Temperature Conditions — Braving the Scorching Sun, Battling the Heat Waves, Forging the Blade
PLA Daily report by correspondent Fan Enda: As the hottest days of summer (三伏) arrive, the heat waves surge and troops are busy tempering themselves on the battlefield. On the open ocean, naval officers and soldiers hold their posts in high-temperature compartments and rapidly respond to emergencies; deep in dense forests, officers and soldiers of an Army combined-arms brigade face the heat waves head-on, conducting intensive live-equipment training…
As midsummer sets in and high temperatures persist across much of the country, units are proactively benchmarking themselves against combat requirements, closely aligning with the characteristics of high-temperature environments, and organizing high-intensity combat-realistic training. Officers and soldiers are forging their combat ethos and honing the hard skills needed to win victory amid sweltering heat.
[Caption: A Navy flotilla organizes replenishment training. Photo by Li Fengxiang.]
Heat waves sweep across the front lines of exercises and training, and the fervor for troop training continues to rise. In the heartland of central China, surface temperatures have exceeded 45 degrees Celsius; a motor transport regiment under the Zhengzhou Joint Logistic Support Center organized a heavy-equipment transfer and transport exercise, with officers and soldiers pressing forward into the oncoming heat to complete in sequence such training subjects as armored vehicle loading and securing, long-distance movement, and battlefield unloading. In the South China Sea, the Navy's CNS Changsha (长沙舰) pressed forward through the waves, with localized engine room temperatures reaching as high as 60 degrees Celsius; officers and soldiers held their combat posts, monitoring equipment operating conditions in real time and checking for safety hazards. Over Lingnan, the blazing sun hung high as multiple waves of aircraft from an Air Force unit took to the skies to conduct training subjects including formation coordination and penetration strikes… Units across the military have made high-temperature training a "required course" for enhancing combat effectiveness, training from a position of difficulty and strictness, and guiding officers and soldiers to challenge complex environments and physiological limits, continuously raising their solid capabilities to carry out diverse missions.
Units persist in letting combat requirements drive training, setting difficult and dangerous conditions based on high-temperature complex environments, and comprehensively tempering officers' and soldiers' emergency response, warfighting, and combined-arms operational capabilities. An Air Force unit exploited airspace conditions of intense heat, strong light, and complex air currents to organize tactical confrontation exercises, tempering pilots' on-the-spot judgment and mobile strike capabilities. Multiple field-encampment detachments from Army and People's Armed Police (武警) units advanced into high-temperature unfamiliar terrain and conducted in sequence full-element exercises and breakthroughs on difficult and critical training subjects, practicing command, coordination, and response under extreme conditions.
Summer training during the three hottest periods (夏练三伏) can effectively test the true combat-readiness levels of personnel and equipment under harsh environmental conditions. A detachment of the People's Armed Police Guangxi Corps conducted multiple rounds of extreme test flights to determine the performance parameters of unmanned aerial vehicles in high-temperature environments, refined dedicated flight contingency plans, and improved the combat effectiveness of equipment under extreme weather conditions. An Air Force unit compiled high-temperature training data from previous years, precisely calculated the limits of personnel physical endurance and the thresholds of equipment performance degradation, compiled an equipment maintenance manual for high-temperature environments, and refined procedures for seasonal fault inspection and emergency repair.
Scientific training organization improves the quality and effectiveness of troop training. In response to the realities of summer high-temperature training — including high physical exertion, elevated risk of heat stroke, and frequent equipment malfunctions — units are optimizing training organization models, strengthening logistic support and supply, and resolutely overcoming rough training methods and fatigue-inducing training.
A Rocket Force (火箭军) unit dynamically adjusted its training plan in accordance with summer climate characteristics, adopting models such as staggered-peak training and rotational training, advancing in a coordinated manner the consolidation of basic subjects alongside high-intensity confrontation and live training, and steadily improving the quality and effectiveness of troop training. A Navy unit carefully prepared heat-prevention and cooling supplies and heat-relief beverages and delivered them to the front lines of training. An Air Force station routinely carries out heat-prevention and cooling measures and medical standby duty for officers and soldiers, providing fixed-point support at airport front-line positions and elsewhere… Units are continuously studying and summarizing the patterns and characteristics of training under high-temperature conditions, providing solid support for the orderly conduct of combat-realistic training.
In recent days, officers and soldiers across the military have braved the scorching sun, battled the heat waves, and forged the blade — making up for training shortfalls and consolidating the foundation for winning victory in sweltering conditions, continuously driving a surge in summer combat training and war preparedness, and comprehensively enhancing units' capabilities to carry out missions at all times, across all territories, and in all weather conditions.