News

Military parade marks anniversary

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-01 11:40

Armed police commando

The Snow Leopard Commando unit, the crack force of the People's Armed Police Force (PAPF), made their debut Thursday onboard 08 wheeled armored vehicles, the only kind in Thursday's parade covered with urban camouflage.

The Chinese SWAT, officially named the Special Brigade of the PAPF Beijing Corps, was established in 2002 and named by the Central Military Commission (CMC), is a crack emergency force to handle emergency and terrorist threats and maintain stability.

The special brigade carried out security work during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. It also took part in several national anti-terrorism drills and the 2007 Sino-Russian anti-terrorism exercise.

The brigade has been praised for dealing with emergencies, fighting violent crimes and safeguarding important events.

Largest PLA howitzers

The PLA rolled out battalions of its new artillery units to join tanks and SWAT teams in a grand military parade to celebrate the 60th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China in the heart of Beijing.

The PLA's Type 05 tracked self-propelled gun-howitzers thundered past the audience on and at both side of the Tian'anmen Rostrum amid applause studded with exclamations.

The Type 05 gun-howitzers were first delivered to the PLA at the beginning of this year, and are the PLA's largest guns in service.

One of China's most sophisticated artillery pieces in terms of its automation level, strike range and navigation and fire control systems, the Type 05 gun-howitzers have received several batches of foreign guests, in a demonstration of the country's military openness and transparency.