Upgrade for Eastern Theatre Command’s 71st Group Army streamlines PLA’s firepower across land and sea as US artillery programmes lag
2-MIN READ2-MINLiu ZhenPublished: 9:00pm, 9 Sep 2026Beijing has reinforced its military firepower facing the Taiwan Strait by deploying more 155mm PLZ-05 self-propelled howitzers, according to state media reports.
This marked the first time the PLZ-05 had been assigned at the brigade level. The powerful artillery system was originally operated at the group-army level as a long-range suppression weapon.
“For us, receiving 155mm self-propelled howitzers for the first time has significantly improved our overall combat effectiveness,” brigade officer Sun Xialong said.
Painted in brown desert camouflage, the batch of tracked howitzers appeared to have been relocated from the Western Theatre Command, which has instead received lighter, wheeled PCL-181 155mm self-propelled howitzers better suited to the plateau and mountainous terrain it covers.
