MAC details the potential scope of Chinese artillery

• By Chung Li-hua and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

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Potential improvements to munitions used by China’s long-range rocket-artillery units could extend their range to cover the entire Miyako Strait, which might give the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) the ability to secure the strategic waterway, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a report.

The PLA’s long-range rocket-artillery units deployed along the Taiwan Strait are concentrated along the coast of Fujian Province, including Changle, Pingtan and Shishi, the quarterly report on China said.

The artillery brigades of the PLA’s 71st, 72nd and 73rd group armies have been deployed, with preparations for potential battlefield operations under way since August 2022, the report said.

A graphic shows rocket ranges centered on Pingtan Island in China’s Fujian Province.

Photo: Screen grab from a Mainland Affairs Council report

“Credible imagery” showed that the units have completed equipment upgrades and are fielding PCH191 modular long-range multiple rocket launchers, it said.

The system has a range of nearly 500km, while the Fire Dragon 480, a 750mm tactical ballistic missile, has a reported range of 480km, it said.

The PCH191 uses two modular launch pods, each of which can be loaded with five 300mm rockets, four 370mm rockets, one 750mm tactical missile, or one 380mm anti-ship cruise missile, the report said.

However, the standard munitions of the PCH191 cannot effectively reach the central waters of the Miyako Strait, which are about 600km from the launch positions in China’s Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, it said.

Technological improvements could extend the range of the Fire Dragon 480 to 600km or more, it said, adding that composite materials could reduce the weight of the missiles, while improved solid propellant could increase propulsion efficiency.

Such advances would allow the units along China’s southeastern coast to reach the western entrance to the Miyako Strait and potentially cover the entire strait, it said.

In March last year, Chinese state media showed the Feilong-60A being tested, describing it as China’s first loitering munition designed around a modular rocket-artillery platform.

The report said the Feilong-60A could be integrated with the PCH191 to scout the battlefield, identify targets and help direct precision strikes, giving the PLA a way to combine battlefield intelligence with long-range firepower, it said.

The longer ranges and ability to combine battlefield intelligence with firepower enabled by modular munitions could overcome the traditional geographic limitations of long-range strikes, giving the PLA the means to counter an island-chain blockade and secure strategic routes, it said.

The MAC cited a 2023 report by the China Maritime Studies Institute at the US Naval War College, which said that fielding the PCH191 and other munitions could make the Chinese army the most important contributor of firepower in a hypothetical joint landing campaign against Taiwan.