A PHL-03 long-range multiple launch rocket system (LRMLRS) attached to an artillery brigade under the PLA 74th Group Army fires rockets at simulate target during a night raid exercise in an undisclosed desert area of northwest China on July 28, 2021. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Huang Hai)

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) recently conducted a series of tactical drills in the high-altitude plateau region of Southwest China featuring the live-fire shooting of long-range rocket artillery, a type of weapon analysts said on Sunday works particularly well in such terrain and will help the PLA safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Having held camp for several months deep in the Zangnan area, the southern part of Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region (Tibet), a brigade of the PLA Xizang Military Command recently carried out the exercise at an altitude of 4,600 meters under the harsh cold of -20 C, the China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Friday.

In the drills, multiple types of long-range rocket artillery used multiple types of munitions against multiple types of targets to test their long-range precision strike capabilities under the thin air in winter, CCTV said.

According to the report, a reconnaissance drone took off from a launcher vehicle and guided PHL-03 multiple launch rocket systems to accurately hit mock targets representing air-defense missile launcher vehicles, then the PHL-03s changed positions for the next mission.

This brigade is a main force of long-range artillery affiliated with the PLA Xizang Military Command, and it has been constantly receiving new equipment. The live-fire shooting gathered much new information, which will provide support to the integrated use of new and old equipment, CCTV reported.

"After switching to use new equipment and upgrades to munitions, fire coverage between dozens to more than 100 kilometers can be done with a single system, and it can also realize multi-point precision strikes instead of suppressive fire in a large area," the report quoted Jiang Wei, a battalion commander of the brigade, as saying.

"We can launch attacks as we go, which significantly enhances our fire strike efficiency and survivability," Jiang said.

Unlike many other types of equipment that could suffer from the lack of oxygen at high altitudes, long-range rockets work well in plateau regions as they could gain even longer ranges due to the thin air, a Chinese military expert told the Global Times on Sunday, requesting anonymity.

The live-fire drills will allow the PLA troops to calibrate the weapons under real circumstances, the expert said.

China's long-range rocket artillery technologies are world-leading, and this will help the PLA safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, the expert said.

On December 9, PLA border troops were on a routine patrol on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control on an eastern section of the China-India border when Indian troops illegally crossed the line and blocked the Chinese forces, forcing the PLA to deal with the situation with professional, standard and powerful measures that stabilized the situation, said Senior Colonel Long Shaohua, a spokesperson of the PLA Western Theater Command, in a statement on Tuesday.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during Tuesday's press briefing that the current situation is "generally stable" and asked India to abide by the spirit of relevant agreements signed by the two sides.