PLAN Marine Corps growth meets finite assault lift

The People's Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps has expanded substantially, with additional amphibious formations in the ground forces. Scripted exercises offer an uncertain basis for judging tactical initiative: participants may be following orders to stay within the exercise plan, and the units sent abroad may not represent the best available formations. Lack of recent combat does not by itself establish that trained personnel would fight poorly. New LHDs, LPDs, and over-the-beach systems give China a growing amphibious capability. Ship capacity still determines how much combat power can arrive together, and many smaller landing ships carry forces better suited to raids than to a deep assault. Concentrated landings improve breakout strength but expose more of the force to concentrated defensive fire, while dispersed landings spread that exposure.