Exercises Modernization Doctrine

An Army Regiment Focuses on Forging Coordinated Strike Capabilities

陆军某团着力锤炼协同打击能力

PLA Daily (解放军报) 18 May 2026

Summary

An unnamed Army regiment garrisoned in the Kunlun Mountains conducted a multi-arm coordinated fire strike exercise integrating multiple rocket launchers, gun-howitzers, and surface-to-air missiles with UAV, radar, and electro-optical reconnaissance feeds pushed in real time to fire units, eliminating the need for forward observation posts. The article documents a specific interoperability failure the regiment diagnosed in a prior live-force confrontation exercise—incompatible data formats across reconnaissance, command, and fire units caused missed engagement windows—and records the institutional response: cross-unit network integration with reconnaissance, electronic countermeasures, Army aviation, and engineer elements to close the intelligence-command-fires chain. This fits the broader PLA Army pattern of identifying systems integration deficits through adversarial exercises and using after-action review mechanisms to drive targeted capability fixes at the regimental level, with the high-altitude garrison context raising the specific question of how the regiment's solutions translate to the electromagnetic and terrain constraints of a Tibetan Plateau contingency.

Translation

An Army Regiment Focuses on Forging Coordinated Strike Capabilities—— Firepower's 'Iron Fist' Links Up with Reconnaissance's 'Eyes That See a Thousand Li'

■ Zhang Qi, PLA Daily Special Correspondent Niu Yushen

In the early days of summer, the depths of the Kunlun Mountains remain bitterly cold. On the training ground, a multi-arm coordinated fire strike exercise conducted by a certain Army regiment was underway in full intensity. Multiple rocket launcher, gun-howitzer, and surface-to-air missile positions were arrayed in sequence, with officers and soldiers of each arm standing in strict readiness. Unlike previous exercises, this time none of the fire units established forward observation posts.

"Without close-in reconnaissance, how can precision strikes be ensured?" Just as this correspondent was puzzling over this, a series of urgent alert tones suddenly sounded inside the command post, and streams of target information refreshed in real time on the display screens.

"Receiving data pushed by reconnaissance element" … "Parameters set" … "One salvo, fire" … At the commander's order, rockets left the tubes in an instant, smoke and fire rolled across the target area, and an enemy armored cluster conducting concealed maneuver was precisely covered. "Without dispatching reconnaissance soldiers, we can still strike rapidly and precisely—the key lies in cross-domain communications linkage (跨域通联) and intelligence sharing." A regimental leader introduced this after the exercise concluded.

During a previous live-force confrontation exercise, the "enemy" exploited complex high-altitude terrain and a complex electromagnetic environment to conduct a surprise attack along multiple flanking routes. The regiment's officers and soldiers, however, found that the data formats of their reconnaissance, command, and fire units were mutually incompatible, making it impossible to share target information in real time. This left fire units lacking critical parameters and ultimately caused them to miss the engagement window.

At the after-action review seminar, the regiment's Party committee standing committee discussed and concluded: the crux constraining the improvement of combat capability lay in information barriers and poor coordination; it was essential to open up the "last kilometer" from reconnaissance to fires and achieve seamless linkage of the intelligence chain (情报链), command chain (指挥链), and fire chain (火力链).

Thereafter, with an eye toward improving systems integration (体系融合度), the regiment proactively coordinated with sister units in reconnaissance, electronic countermeasures, Army aviation, and engineer specialties to jointly connect command networks and together establish a mechanism for real-time intelligence sharing. In actual exercises and training, reconnaissance elements can use unmanned aerial vehicles, radar, electro-optical systems, and other means to push key information—including target coordinates, speed, and formation—in real time to the command post and each fire unit, guiding the execution of precision strikes.

"Real-time intelligence sharing and one-touch information push allow us to detect earlier, decide faster, and strike precisely," said Battalion Commander Yin of the regiment's multiple rocket launcher battalion with feeling. Today, relying on real-time information pushed by sister units, fire units can grasp the situation and execute strikes without activating radar or moving observation posts forward, and position survivability has improved significantly. A high-altitude fire network (高原火力网) covering the full domain with precision and efficiency is being woven ever tighter, driving a rapid improvement in the force's combat capability.

"We must never allow 'data barriers' to become 'obstacles to winning!'" The regiment's leadership stated that in the next phase they will continue to deepen systems-based training (体系练兵) tailored to the characteristics of their garrison environment, and comprehensively improve the force's command and control, rapid response, coordinated strike, and comprehensive protection capabilities under complex environmental and meteorological conditions.

Original Chinese

陆军某团着力锤炼协同打击能力—— 火力“铁拳头”连通侦察“千里眼” ■张旗解放军报特约通讯员牛昱森初夏时节，昆仑腹地依旧寒风刺骨。训练场上，陆军某团一场多兵种协同火力打击训练火热展开。火箭炮、加榴炮、地空导弹阵地依次排开，各兵种官兵严阵以待。与以往不同的是，此次训练，各火力单元没有开设前沿观察所。 “不抵近侦察，如何确保精准打击？”笔者正疑惑间，指挥所内骤然响起一阵急促的提示音，一条条目标信息在显示屏上实时刷新。 “接收侦察分队推送数据”“诸元装定”“一发齐射，放”……随着指挥员一声令下，火箭弹顷刻出膛，目标区域硝烟滚滚，“敌”隐蔽机动的装甲集群被精准覆盖。“没有派出侦察兵，同样能快速精准打击，关键在于跨域通联、情报共享。”训练结束后，该团一名领导介绍。此前一次实兵对抗中，“敌”借助高原复杂地形和复杂电磁环境，多路迂回实施突袭。该团官兵却因侦察、指挥、火力各单元数据格式各异，目标信息无法实时共享，导致火力单元缺乏关键参数，最终错失战机。复盘研讨会上，该团党委一班人讨论感到：制约战斗力提升的症结在于信息壁垒、协同不畅，必须打通从侦察到火力的“最后一公里”，实现情报链、指挥链、火力链无缝衔接。此后，该团着眼提升体系融合度，主动与侦察、电抗、陆航、工兵等兄弟单位对接，携手贯通指挥网络，共同建立情报实时共享机制。实际演训中，侦察分队可利用无人机、雷达、光电等多种手段，将目标坐标、速度、队形等关键信息实时推送至指挥所和各火力单元，引导实施精准打击。 “情报实时共享，信息一键推送，让我们能够尽早发现、尽快决策、精准打击。”该团火箭炮营殷营长感慨地说，如今依托兄弟单位推送的实时信息，火力单元可在雷达不开机、观察所不抵近的情况下掌握态势、实施打击，阵地生存能力显著提高。一张覆盖全域、精准高效的高原火力网越织越密，助推部队战斗力快速提升。 “决不能让‘数据壁垒’变成‘打赢障碍’！”该团领导表示，下一步，他们将针对驻地环境特点，继续深化体系练兵，全面提升部队在复杂环境和气象条件下的指挥控制、快速反应、协同打击和综合防护能力。