Exercises Modernization

A PLA Navy Unit Relies on Digital Empowerment to Break Through Bottlenecks and Chokepoints in Fuel Support

海军某部依靠数字赋能打通油料保障难点堵点

PLA Daily (解放军报) 19 August 2026

Summary

A PLA Navy unit based in North China completed an unannounced combat-realistic emergency deployment exercise in which a newly fielded intelligent fuel management platform — integrating vehicle recognition, liquid-level sensing, safety early warning, and electronic ledgers across five modules under a 'one network, one screen, one integrated system' (一网覆盖、一屏统管、一体联动) architecture — cut full-inventory inspection time from a full day to ten minutes and compressed fuel dispatch response from hours to minutes across stations dispersed up to one thousand kilometers apart. The article documents a specific logistics readiness problem: dispersed garrison fueling points with no real-time headquarters visibility, manual record-keeping prone to error, and dispatch cycles that consistently lagged vehicle arrival — a structural lag the unit frames as lost battlefield initiative. The framing of the next phase — intelligent fuel-consumption prediction and dynamic resource allocation — points to ambitions beyond administrative efficiency, though the article provides no performance data against a comparative baseline or external validation of the claimed response-time compression.

Translation

A PLA Navy Unit Relies on Digital Empowerment to Break Through Bottlenecks and Chokepoints in Fuel Support——

Commanding the "Oil Dragon" from a Single Room

■ Wang Shuai | PLA Daily Correspondent Sun Xingwei | Illustration by Mao Wenkuan

Not long ago, deep in the hinterland of North China, a PLA Navy unit suddenly launched a combat-realistic emergency deployment exercise. The reporter observed that inside the garrison's fueling station, vehicles pulled up, refueled, and departed without delay; on the armored vehicle lot, mobile refueling trucks shuttled back and forth delivering fuel; and on the large display screen in the dispatch control room, real-time data on fueling flow rates and fuel inventory levels flickered continuously — digital empowerment (数字赋能) linked three separate scenes simultaneously through shared data and connected networks, sketching a new picture of the unit's fuel support operations.

It is understood that in the past, organizing fuel support commonly meant "queuing and congestion, manual ledger reconciliation," with scenes of frantic disorder on the ground. Today, the entire fueling process runs smoothly and efficiently. As the unit's officers and soldiers put it: "Before, it was 'people waiting for fuel'; now it's 'fuel waiting for vehicles.' Digital empowerment has made the support chain more fluid and response faster."

"For a large-scale emergency mobilization like this, in the past, even with all hands on deck we couldn't keep up." Jiao Jinhui, a fuel specialist with nine years of fuel support experience, reflected with deep feeling. He recalled that when executing major tasks of this kind in the past, multiple batches of vehicles converging on fueling points at once would create instantaneous peak demand. He and his comrades had to simultaneously direct vehicle traffic, verify credentials, and manually write down vehicle numbers and tally fuel quantities — frequently working themselves into a frenzy. Especially during nighttime support operations or in rain and snow, paper-and-pen records were highly prone to smearing and errors, which seriously affected subsequent account reconciliation.

Jiao Jinhui also told the reporter that in routine depot area management, fuel support personnel conducted inventory inspections entirely on foot, threading through the tank farm and climbing up each tank to take manual gauge readings. During nighttime duty, manual patrols had visual blind spots, making it difficult to detect subtle problems such as fuel vapor leaks or electrical hazards in a timely manner. The old model of "human patrol, hand recording, manual ledger management (人巡、手记、账管)" caused officers and soldiers to expend enormous energy on administrative work.

The chokepoints at the grassroots operational level were also the pain points and difficulties in the unit's fuel support domain. For a long time, the unit's fueling points were dispersed across several garrisons nearly one hundred kilometers apart, and when task detachments moved forward, the distance sometimes reached over a thousand kilometers. Due to the dispersal of sites and the extended support chain, the headquarters was unable to obtain real-time awareness of conditions at each station. The rough management model of "data reported the next day, situations learned after the fact, problems corrected reactively" meant fuel dispatch was always one step behind the mission — vehicles would already be on-site waiting to refuel while the fuel allocation order was still in transit. Each "time gap" stacked upon the next, consuming not only efficiency but also precious battlefield initiative.

"Pain points are where effort must be applied. Support capability must keep pace with battlefield requirements in order to seize the initiative on the future battlefield." In response to these problems, the unit's Party committee and headquarters took the lead in overall coordination; functional sections systematically reviewed each shortfall one by one; and a scientifically formulated intelligent upgrade plan was developed. Through the precise deployment of full-domain intelligent data collection terminals, high-precision liquid level sensing equipment, and linked security early-warning devices, data connectivity across dispersed stations was completely established. Five major modules — fueling operations, fuel storage management, intelligent inspection, safety early warning, and electronic ledgers — were simultaneously integrated to build an intelligent management and control platform featuring "one network for full coverage, one screen for unified management, one integrated system for coordinated response (一网覆盖、一屏统管、一体联动)."

Commanding the "Oil Dragon" from a single room — the implementation of the intelligent solution has given fuel support operations an entirely new look. All garrison fueling stations have achieved full intelligent vehicle-position recognition coverage: after a vehicle enters, the system automatically identifies the vehicle type and license plate, intelligently matches the applicable fuel standard, and uploads fueling data in real time, with no manual intervention required throughout the entire process. Routine inspection work through the intelligent management and control platform can now complete a full-domain inventory in over ten minutes that previously took an entire day. Fueling vehicles equipped with intelligent terminals can transmit data back synchronously even when operating thousands of kilometers away, and the relevant operational picture can be taken in at a glance from the dispatch control room. "Now, even during multi-echelon, high-density concentrated mobilizations, we can ensure that fuel is ready when vehicles arrive — refueling on demand, the moment they pull up," Jiao Jinhui said with composure.

Beyond that, the more far-reaching change is a profound transformation of the entire support chain from passive response to active pre-positioning (从被动响应向主动预置). Relying on the entirely new digital management and control system, the unit's transportation and delivery section can obtain real-time fueling data, equipment status, and security posture directly from the headquarters building. When the system detects an anomaly, the intelligent early-warning system triggers an alert and initiates response immediately. The response speed of fuel dispatch has been compressed from the previous "hour-level" to "minute-level." Every drop of fuel's destination and every operational record is authentically traceable, eliminating the risk of "running, overflowing, dripping, and leaking (跑冒滴漏)."

"'Fuel waiting for vehicles' is not the end goal — the goal is to let powerful support capability generate powerful combat capability (战斗力)." The unit's leadership told the reporter that in the next phase, they will continue to deepen the digital and intelligent transformation of logistics support, update and optimize system functions in close alignment with combat requirements, and explore deeper-level applications such as intelligent prediction of fuel consumption and dynamic allocation of support resources, so that every drop of fuel is converted into tangible winning momentum (打赢动能).

Original Chinese

海军某部依靠数字赋能打通油料保障难点堵点—— 身在斗室，可驭“油龙” ■王帅解放军报记者孙兴维茅文宽绘不久前，华北腹地，海军某部一场实战化紧急出动演练骤然打响。记者看到，营区加油站内，车辆即停即加即走；装甲车场上，机动加油车穿梭补给；调度控制室大屏上，加注流量与油料存量数据实时跳动——数字赋能让三处不同场景在同一时间数据相通、链路相接，勾勒出该部油料保障的新图景。据了解，以往组织油料保障，常常是“排队拥堵、手工对账”，现场一片忙乱。如今，加注全程顺畅高效，正如该部官兵所说：“过去是‘人等油’，如今是‘油等车’。数字赋能让保障链路更通畅、响应更迅捷。” “像这样的大规模紧急拉动，放在之前，哪怕全员上阵都忙不过来。”有着9年油料保障工作经验的油料员焦金辉感慨万千。他回忆，过去执行这类大项任务时，多批次车辆集中涌入加油点位，就会形成瞬时保障高峰。他和战友需要一边疏导车流、核对资质，一边手写记录车号、统计油量，经常搞得手忙脚乱。特别是遇到夜间保障或雨雪天气，纸笔登记极易模糊错漏，对后续核账影响很大。焦金辉还告诉记者，在日常库区管控中，油料保障人员盘点巡查，全靠徒步穿梭罐区、逐罐爬检下尺。夜间值守时，人工巡查存在视线盲区，难以及时发现油气渗漏、线路隐患等细微问题。传统“人巡、手记、账管”的老模式，让官兵把大量精力耗费在事务性工作上。基层作业的堵点，也是该部油料保障领域的痛点难点。长期以来，该部加油点位分散在相隔近百公里的数个营区，有时赶上任务分队前出，距离甚至达到上千公里。受点位分散、保障链条偏长影响，机关无法实时掌握各站点动态，“数据隔日报、情况滞后知、问题被动改”的粗放管理模式，导致油料调度总是慢任务一步——这边车辆已经到位等待加油，那边的油料调配指令还在路上。一道道“时间差”叠加起来，损耗的不仅是效率，更是宝贵的战场先机。 “痛点就是发力点。保障力必须跟上战场需求，才能在未来战场赢得主动。”针对这些问题，该部党委机关靠前统筹，业务科室逐条梳理短板，科学制订智能化升级方案，通过精准布设全域智能采集终端、高精度液位传感设备、联动式安防预警装置，彻底打通分散站点的数据互联，同步整合加油作业、储油管控、智能巡检、安全预警、电子台账5大模块，建起“一网覆盖、一屏统管、一体联动”的智能管控平台。身在斗室，可驭“油龙”。智能化方案的推行，让油料保障面貌焕然一新。各营区加油站实现智能识别机位全覆盖，车辆驶入后系统自动识别车型车牌、智能匹配油料标准、实时上传加注数据，全程无需人工干预；日常巡检工作通过智能管控平台，十几分钟即可完成过去一天的全域盘点；安装智能终端的加油车，即使远在千里之外也能同步回传数据，相关态势在调度控制室就能尽收眼底。“现在哪怕是多梯队、高密度的集中拉动，我们也能做到车到油来，随到随加。”焦金辉一脸从容地说。此外，更深远的变化，是整个保障链条从被动响应向主动预置的深刻转型。依托全新数字化管控系统，该部运输投送科在机关楼里就可实时掌握加油数据、设备状态和安防态势。当系统监测到异常时，智能预警系统会第一时间报警处置，油料调度的响应速度从过去的“小时级”压缩至“分钟级”，每一滴油料流向、每一次操作记录都真实可查，杜绝了“跑冒滴漏”隐患。 “‘油等车’不是终点，让强大的保障力催生强大的战斗力才是目标。”该部领导告诉记者，下一步，他们将持续深耕后勤保障数字化、智能化转型，紧贴实战需求更新优化系统功能，探索油料消耗智能预测、保障资源动态调配等更深层次应用，让每一滴油都转化为实实在在的打赢动能。