From May 28 to 29, civil air defense drills were organized respectively in Chongqing and Shanghai, two municipalities directly under China’s Central Government, showing the civil air defense a step closer to actual combat. Together with the armed forces, it forms a powerful attack and defense system.
Shanghai: Creating the municipal "smart civil air defense system"
On May 28, a main building complex in Shanghai was surrounded by smoke, and the sky was filled with sparkling metal foils and flaming-red heat source points. Several black helium balloons soared into the sky with corner reflectors hanging from them. This is the protection network using a variety of methods constructed by professional civil air defense teams for the protection of important economic targets.
In recent years, Shanghai has stepped up the construction of new-type professional civil air defense teams in terms of information network, electronic protection, psychological protection, drone reinforcement, and air rescue; advanced the construction of a stronger civil air defense based on science and technology; and promoted the in-depth integration of Internet, big data, artificial intelligence (AI) with civil air defense, in an effort to enhance the construction of "smart civil air defense" to go above and beyond.
Against the backdrop of the large city’s air defense operations in the context of informationization, based on the complex conditions faced by Shanghai civil air defense, and centered on the procedure of civil air defense organization at wartime, the drill was an in-depth study of various topics, including peacetime preparation and wartime readiness, civil air defense command and overall coordination, as well as the issues such as from what and how to prevent the important economic objectives. It highlighted the use of new equipment, new measures, and new methods of operation, putting the pilot 'smart civil air defense' project to the test in all aspects.
Civil air defense has undergone significant changes in various aspects, including investigation and reconnaissance, evacuation mode, protection subject, and application of means under the new situation. "Defense" has no longer been the only subject of the civil air defense training. The Municipal Civil Air Defense Office not only trained with new equipment, but also displayed 110 sets of protective equipment in five series of command, defense, resistance, elimination and rescue in the drill. The drill has not only put more equipment into practice, but also focused on the building of core capacity of fighting against air defense attacks, set up the subjects in accordance with the actual procedures in handling air defense attacks, and effectively fulfilled the mission of "wartime air defense, peacetime service, and emergency support."
Chongqing: Civil air defense integrated into the Joint Theater Air Defense System
From May 28 to 29, more than 50 military and civilian units, along with over 4,000 military and civilian personnel from Chongqing Municipality, participated in the drill “Chongqing Operation- Civil Air Defense-2019”.
Guided by major military and government officials from the municipal administration departments of Chongqing and the PLA Chongqing Garrison Command, a leading group was established to integrate the civil air defense operations into the joint theater air defense system, make troops stationed in Chongqing as support forces for the civil air defense operations, and coordinate air interceptions, ground anti-strikes, and rear defense operations. The participating units carried out theoretical research on 20 issues including the organization and command of wartime civil air defense under the new system, the construction of the military-civilian joint command system, the evacuation of air defense population in the core urban areas, and the integrated defense of transportation hub and public communications.
Based on the experience accumulated in previous training, the drill was able to roll out a number of innovative methods. For instance, Yuzhong District has changed its previous practice of evacuating the population based on the proportion to adjacent to the target importance. It has also leveraged both coaches and private cars at the same time. The changes have greatly improved evacuation efficiency. And in Huangjueping Power Plant, Jiulongpo District, after the “air strike”, they made various changes to ensure the continuous supply of electricity through military power supply units, power deployments across the city, and emergency repairs by a professional detachment. In Shapingba District, they followed the advice of experts in camouflage, and disguised the cross-river bridge as a false target, which achieved the goal of protecting the important target.
