V-Day parade to highlight China's military progress

BEIJING - New Chinese weaponry to be displayed in the Sept 3 military parade in Beijing will show the country's military modernization and innovation, according to a Chinese weapons expert.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) will debut new weapons and equipment during the military parade, many of which are among the world's most advanced, said a military source.

During the parade, the navy will display its latest anti-ship missiles,ship-to-air missiles and carrier-based aircraft, while the air force will bring long-range bombers, fighters and airborne early warning and control (AEWC) aircraft.

The armaments on display will include the army's newest helicopter gunships and battle tanks as well as intermediate-range conventional and strategic ballistic missiles from the Second Artillery Force.

"The new domestically produced weaponry to be shown in the Victory Day parade will demonstrate the military's modernization and innovation in China," said Ge Lide, expert on military equipment with PLA National Defense University.

China has held more than a dozen military parades on National Day to mark the country's founding on Oct 1, 1949. It has typically unveiled its most advanced weapon systems during the parades.

Ge said China's military parades have provided great opportunities to showcase development in weaponry and military morale.

The armaments displayed during China's first parade on Oct 1, 1949 were all from other countries and had previously been used, including a Japanese tank captured by the Chinese army in 1945.

In the coming military parade, more than 500 pieces of China's latest equipment will be displayed, 84 percent of which have never been viewed by the public, a senior military official said at a press conference last Friday.

During the first military parade, the PLA did not yet have a navy, but 35 years later in 1984, a missile phalanx of the PLA Navy appeared in the National Day parade. In the 2009 parade, China had three naval formations of ship-to-air, anti-ship and shore-to-ship missiles.

"The Navy's new carrier-based aircraft, a symbol of China's growing naval power, will be one of the highlights in this year's Victory Day parade," said Ge.

Yin Zhuo, head of the information technology commission of the PLA Navy, said the weapons indicate that the Chinese military is moving from a phase of mechanization toward information technology and computerization.

The Victory Day military parade will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and World War II. It is the first in China to mark an anniversary of the war and the first to include foreign military participation.

The parade will include 11 foot formations, 27 armament formations, ten aircraft formations and two veteran teams. Governments from Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania and the Americas will participate.