Anushka Saxena
Since wide-sweeping reforms of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) began in 2015, efforts of the country’s defence apparatus are oriented towards creating an “integrated” force capable of fighting and winning “high intensity, short duration, localised wars.” Integration has been focal to prepare for achieving the intended goal, and has manifested itself in both doctrine and real-time combat preparedness exercises. In the Western Theater Command of the PLA, which has a primary operation direction towards India, requirements to make integration a reality are reflected, too.
The Science of Military Strategy (战略学) document published by the PLA Academy of Military Science in 2013, lucidly explains the pillars of Multi-Domain Integrated Joint Operations (MDIJO). The requirement is two-fold — that the services and support arms of the PLA fuse their operational expertise and platforms to the highest possible degree (i.e. preparing a “joint combat force”), and that they do so via a “seamlessly linked up networked military information system.” The former constitutes the material basis on which operational strengths can be complementarised and the boundaries and hierarchies of services and arms can be transcended. The latter constitutes the safe and reliable supporting link so that all operational elements have a common awareness of battlefield postures. Theater commands like the WTC have been essential in fulfilling this requirement.
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