PLA strengthens logistics on plateaus

The People's Liberation Army is strengthening logistical support for troops stationed on plateaus, according to a military spokesman.

Senior Colonel Wu Qian, director of the Ministry of Defense's information bureau, told a news conference in Beijing on Thursday that the Central Military Commission's Logistic Support Department and other relevant authorities have designed new materials to improve the living conditions and operational capability of frontline units on plateaus.

He said that in the face of the coming winter, the PLA has designed cold-resistant clothing and equipment for border defense units on plateaus that are lightweight and warm.

These new materials include a sleeping bag that is 50 percent lighter than normal bags and suitable for the minus 40 C temperatures that are common at an altitude of 5,000 meters; a multifunctional snowfield suit that incorporates the latest coating and camouflage technologies; and rugged cold-proof boots.

These new supplies will soon be delivered to frontline soldiers, he added.

The military is also striving to make sure that frontline troops on plateaus can have hot food, he said.

The PLA's logistical support institutes worked with food companies to develop a package of provisions including self-heating food and dehydrated vegetables.

Frontline forces have received new cooking and food-heating devices and have built new-generation vegetable cellars, which are larger and can prolong the preservation period.

Furthermore, these units have begun to use small drones to transport hot food to troops patrolling border areas, according to Wu.

In another development, the PLA Tibet Command said it sent two helicopters to transport nearly 25 metric tons of food, electronic appliances and construction materials to a border defense outpost at an altitude of nearly 4,000 meters in Metog county, Tibet autonomous region.

The materials carried by the resupply operation, which lasted three days, are expected to sustain soldiers at the outpost for two months, the command said.

Military experts explained that logistical support capability is the most important determinant to whether soldiers can be deployed in high-altitude localities for a long time and is also crucial to their combat capability.