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Weapons paraded all Chinese-made

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-01 08:46

BEIJING: China will display its most sophisticated weapons at the upcoming military parade on Thursday morning. All weapons are made in China.

A total of 52 types of new weapon systems produced by Chinese engineers and technicians, including China's newest model of intercontinental nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, will be displayed.

Other cutting-edge weaponry includes China's new generation of tanks, sophisticated radar, airborne early warning and control aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and satellite communication devices.

Lieutenant General Fang Fenghui, general director of the parade, said most of the weapons would be displayed in the parade for the first time. "Some types of equipment were displayed in previous military parades, but what to be shown in this parade are their upgraded models."

Compared with the National Day military parade 10 years ago, Thursday's parade involves fewer personnel and more equipment, fewer army troops and more troops from the navy, air force and the PLA Second Artillery Force.

Fang said the formation of the phalanxes shows the ongoing transformation of the PLA from a labor-intensive force to a technology-intensive one and its ability to carry out diverse military missions.

He said the military parade will "showcase PLA's firm determination to safeguard national security and interests and maintain world peace."

A total of 56 regiments on the ground and in the air will join the parade. The parade involves more than 8,000 servicemen and women, nearly 500 tanks, missiles and other military vehicles and 151 warplanes.

China has held 13 military parades since 1949.

Sixty years ago, when Chairman Mao Zedong reviewed troops at the founding ceremony of New China, China had barely any home-grown weapons. The equipment displayed was mostly seized from enemies in the Chinese people's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation.