Amid Ongoing Tension With India, Chinese Army Tests High-Altitude Weapons Performance Near LAC: Report

Amid the ongoing tension with India at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, the live-fire drills conducted by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) near the Himalayan border showed that the PLA had set up comprehensive training standard which, according to military analysts, are designed for high-altitude artillery operations, a media report said.

Footage broadcast by state-controlled China Central Television showed infantry troops from the Xinjiang military district, part of the Western Theatre Command, conducting precision strike drills at an elevation of 5,200 metres (17,000 feet) in the Karakoram mountains, reports South China Morning Post.

"A range of conventional weapons were on display, from sniper rifles to vehicle-mounted remote control weapon systems, mortars, grenade launchers and anti-tank missiles," the SCMP report said.

The report quoted military experts as saying that the training indicated the "PLA infantries had been equipped with specially designed weapons for high-altitude combat-readiness operations".

“The PLA has introduced precision strike training in Indian border [areas] that aims at controlling more area in future contingencies,” Macau-based military observer Antony Wong Tong was quoted in the report as saying.

Tong added the operation would save manpower and secure the PLA’s defensive capability along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) during the winter.

“The use of the Type 06 semi-automatic grenade launchers and mortars in the recent drill indicated China would deploy the powerful but handy weapons with precision strike capabilities to other disputed border areas,” he said.

According to the report, the drill is just the latest high-altitude battle capability training carried out by the PLA near the border areas with India in the Himalayas after the two sides failed to reach agreeement to resume talks on disengagement last month.

India has also increased its defence infrastructure along the LAC, stepping up road construction and other facilities along the borde. New Delhi has also deployed fighter jets including MiG-29 and Su-30 MKI to the region.

Further, India is also planning to buy high-altitude armed swarm drones for its military to increase its combat readiness.