A brigade of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) ground force's 78th Group Army held a tank gunnery competition in recent days to test its troops' readiness for real combat.
The shooting match, which unfolded on the training grounds at the Horqin Grassland in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, focused on evaluating the overall marksmanship of individual armored vehicles under various scenarios, such as their ability to strike camouflaged and moving targets when driving at a high speed.
Each soldier manning the tank needed to independently weigh the battlefield situation, assess the type of targets, decide on the kind and amount of ammunition, and eventually choose the timing of shooting.
"This year's shooting rules differ from those of previous years, with more barriers along the driving routes, greater irregularity in target display, and more targets added at the farthest points. Every change has been made to simulate real combat, putting forward higher requirements for the battlefield awareness as well as the technical and tactical competence of our crew members," Wei Xunhang, a solider of the 78th Group Army.
Pan Jinhui, another solider, stressed that the competition aimed to test the shooting skills as well as maneuverability and coordination of single-unit tank formation by simulating real-life combat scenarios.
"We have set up real-life, complex, rigorous and practical conditions for the competition and focused on the autonomous coordination of individual vehicles, in order to test their ability to employ techniques and tactics and sharpen their awareness of enemy threat. Under this near-real combat situation, we aim to ensure our soldiers can find solutions and hone their skills to eventually win the fight," he said.
PLA ground force brigade holds tank gunnery contest to test troops' combat readiness
