China has equipped a branch of the PLA deployed along the Indian border with a powerful US-style integrated individual soldier combat system to prepare for a future “informatised warfare”, a media report has said.
Informatised warfare, a term widely used by the Chinese military in recent years refers to the use of IT, digital and artificial intelligence applications in battlefield conditions.
The Sky Wolf Commandos, a branch of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Special Operations Forces from the Western Theatre Command, have been equipped with the QTS-11 system in their training, Weihutang, a column affiliated with the China Central Television (CCTV), reported.
The Western Theatre Command looks after the security along the 3,488 km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India.
The QTS-11 system, according to Chinese experts, is similar to the one being used by US soldiers.
Hailed as the “strongest individual firepower in the world”, the QTS-11 system not only contains firearms but also a full digitalised integrated individual soldier combat system, including detection and communications, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert told state-run Global Times.
The system, which includes an assault rifle and 20-millimeter grenade launcher, is capable of destroying antipersonnel targets.
Each soldier equipped with the system is armed with a thermal imager and optoelectronic and positioning systems, the Global Times quoted a report by Science and Technology Daily. PTI