Parade

1999 National Day military parade

(cctv.com/chinamil.com)
Updated: 2009-08-27 11:52

China's top learder Jiang Zemin inspects troops during the 1999 National Day military parade, Tiananmen Square, Beijing, October, 1, 1999. [chinamil.com]

The year 1999 was at the turn of the 21st century, so the military parade on the National Day of that year was known as the Chinese army's trans-century parade. At 10:00am on October 1, accompanied by the Commander of Beijing Military Area Command Li Xinliang, the then-Chairman of the Central Military Commission Jiang Zemin reviewed the troops. When the march-past began, 17 divisions of soldiers on foot and 25 mechanized divisions who were escorted by guards of honor from the Army, Navy and Air force crossed Tiananmen Square following the loud singing. This parade lasted for more than one hour, and showed the following three characteristics:

Various branches of the armed forces from all the three services participated in the parade, reflecting the high degree of integration of various branches of arms and services in the PLA. The reviewed troops were formed by various branches of arms from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Second Artillery Force, Armed Police and armed forces stationed in the local areas, and they represented all the components of China's armed forces. Of the 42 ground divisions, the number of infantry divisions was reduced to two, while high-tech branches such as the armored forces and artillery accounted for 70 percent. The number of airborne echelons participating in the parade was increased to 10. The change in the composition of the reviewed troops marked the optimization of the PLA armed forces structure. The aircraft of the aviation corps had developed from one single type to various types including fighters, bombers, attack aircrafts and refueling aircrafts. The corps already possessed double-striking and deterring capacities with a complete set of long distance forces, medium distance forces and short distance forces. The navy had established five branches with combat vessels increasing 30 fold compared to that in the beginning of New China. This meant that the high-tech branches had become the PLA's primary forces. Forces including the Army aviation corps, marine corps, special armed police forces and reserve forces established in the new period of reform and opening-up appeared among the reviewed troops for the first time. There were newly-added branches and new types of units for the parade, fully reflecting the characteristics of the PLA's integrated branches and joint services.

The weapons and equipment were scientifically and technologically advanced. Of the 42 types of large equipment reviewed, over 95 percent were of a new style and most of them were independently developed and manufactured in China. Some types were of an internationally-advanced level, fully reflecting the new achievements accomplished in the PLA’s modernization and indicating that high-tech weapons and equipment were beginning to become the main battle weapons of the PLA. Most of the new-style equipment, including the new types of main battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled guns, self-propelled anti-craft guns, heavy antitank missiles and air defense missiles as well as the new types of strategic surface-to-surface missiles, appeared in this National Day military parade for the first time. This parade had the highest number of aircraft participating of all the National Day military parades. There were nine aircraft series and 15 aircraft types; 132 aircraft in total flew over the Tiananmen area. The reviewed weapons and equipment were from all levels including strategic, tactical and operational levels, indicating that the PLA already had a sound and modern joint operation capacity. The formation of refueling aircraft which appeared among the flight echelons showed that the PLA had remote supporting operation and remote mobile operation capacities. The tank division, armored vehicle division, self-propelled gun division and wheeled towed artillery division reflected the great improvement in the ground fire mobility level. The development of vehicle-mounted mobile strategic missiles enhanced the remote mobile operation capacity of the PLA, eradicating the fixed silo missiles which were passive and vulnerable to attack. The airborne force division embodied the rapid improvement of the PLA's joint operation and mobility capacities. The ship-to-air missiles used by the navy and the anti-craft missiles used by the air force showed that the PLA had formed an in-depth anti-craft combat capability for long, medium and short distances as well as at high, medium and low altitudes. They would be the main combat weapons for future joint anti-craft operations. The weapons and equipment showed to the international community that the PLA had already had the comprehensive joint operational capacity by land, sea and air, and the PLA can wipe out any enemy.