The People's Liberation Army's Military Training System

The PLA Brief

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has restructured its military training framework into a progressive three-tier system to generate the combat capabilities required for Integrated Joint Operations. This systematic overhaul transitions the force away from scripted demonstrations toward realistic, unscripted combat scenarios to prepare for informationised and intelligentised warfare.

Initiated with the establishment of the Sanjie Training Base in 1986, this multi-decade doctrinal evolution has expanded into a sophisticated network of Combined Tactics Training Bases, including Zhurihe and Queshan. Under the current model, individual proficiency developed in Basic Training serves as the foundation for Combined Arms Training, which utilizes unit integration, tactical coordination, and opposition validation to prepare forces for joint maneuvers. Recent exercises, such as the Grassland Partners-2026 joint training with Mongolia, demonstrate this integration in practice through the coordinated deployment of manned-unmanned assault squads utilizing robotic ground vehicles and drones under unified tactical command.

Comment

The integration of 'robot wolves' and reconnaissance drones during the Grassland Partners-2026 exercise demonstrates how the PLA's Unit Integration Training is translating intelligentised warfare concepts into squad-level tactics. By embedding these unmanned systems directly within the 81st Group Army's mechanised infantry squads, Chinese planners are bypassing the traditional reliance on regimental or brigade-level support assets. This structural decentralisation demands a higher baseline of technical proficiency from individual squad leaders, challenging the historically top-down command culture of the PLA Ground Force.

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