China Aerospace Studies Institute PLA Rocket Force

Air University (AU)

Chinese Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications

The People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) and China’s Nuclear Deterrence Capabilities Have Grown Considerably in the Past 15 Years. Originally, the PLARF was constructed as purely a delivery force for China’s nuclear weapons. However, that role has expanded dramatically in recent

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Competition with China: PLA Rocket Force

Part of CASI's "Competition With China" video series which helps Airmen better understand the strategic competition with China broadly, and takes a deep look at many of the military and security aspects of that competition. CASI uses source documents to research and report on China’s aerospace

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Concerning the Possibility that the Chinese TB-001 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle was Involved in Ballistic Missile Impacts

The following is a translation of an article by Lieutenant Colonel Aita Moriki of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force, an article that was published by Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies (http://www.nids.mod.go.jp/publication/commentary/pdf/commentary239.pdf). This translation is being

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PLA Rocket Force Organization

The PLA Rocket Force (PLARF), formerly known as the PLA 2nd Artillery Force (PLASAF) until 2016, is responsible for the PLA’s land-based nuclear and conventional ballistic missiles. The Second Artillery Force was officially established in 1966 and given command of China’s small inventory of

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An Assessment of People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force Survivability Training

In the PLARF’s most recent training exercises, the focus has been on surviving after an attack and still being able to launch successfully. Importance has been placed on enhancing a soldier’s ability to take on multiple roles, so that if one dies others can take over their duties. In each of the

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PLA Rocket Force as a Service: New Team Player or Increasingly Irrelevant?

CASI's Director of Research, Rod Lee, contributed an article titled, "PLA Rocket Force as a Service: New Team Player or Increasingly Irrelevant?", in the Army War College's Strategic Studies Institute's 2020 PLA conference volume in Roger Cliff and Roy Kamphausen (eds.), Enabling a More Externally

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PLA Rocket Force Organization- Executive Summary

While recent scholarship has gone a long way toward demystifying China’s missile force, it remains in many ways a poorly understood phenomenon, with an unusually high degree of censorship even by the already strict standards of the PLA. The following is a brief executive summary of a much longer

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Uncovering the Truth Behind the PLA Rocket Force’s August 2021 Missile Launch

On 13 August, the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) conducted a live fire missile launch, likely from the 1st Test and Training District in Jilantai. The missiles impacted at least two targets parked on the apron of the runway at the PLARF’s Ruqiang Target Impact Area which is roughly

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PLA Likely Begins Construction of an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Silo Site near Hanggin Banner

By mid-May 2021, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) likely began construction of a potential intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) silo site in Hanggin Banner, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia (approximately at 40.113, 108.104). Images taken by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 mission

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Assessing People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force Missile Brigade Commander Competition – Jianfeng 2021

At the end of March, dozens of People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) Missile Brigade Commandersi competed in a new six-day competition assessment called Jianfeng (剑锋) 2021 at the Rocket Force Command Collegeii in Wuhan. Although the Jianfeng 2021 (JF 2021) competition on the surface is

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