Take A Rare Peek Inside China’s Expansive Joint Battle Command Center

Updated Nov 7, 2017 6:32 PM EST

We at the The War Zone take a high interest in anything related to strategic command and control , especially when it comes to America’s potential adversaries. We have seen inside Russia’s massive command centers housed in the remodeled Ministry of Defense building in Moscow and now, thanks to newly released video, we get our best look into the Chinese Military Commission’s Joint Battle Center.

The center was supposedly established around 2014-2015 as part of a series of reforms aimed at making the Chinese military more capable of unified operations and to facilitate more streamlined command and control at the highest rungs of China’s leadership. Sitting atop that command structure is President Xi Jinping, who is not only the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, but also the chairman of the Chinese Military Commission. Recently he has also adopted the name “Commander In Chief,” emulating the moniker assigned to American Presidents and has continued executing a series of consolidation of power plays that have given him tighter control over the military and less competition among China’s political leadership.

Xi Jinping, China’s “Command In Chief,” presides from his special desk at the center of the Joint Battle Command Center, Youtube Screengrab

We have seen glimpses of the command center before, most notably in early 2016 (top video) when a fatigue-clad Xi Jinping visited the facility. The most recent video, posted just days ago on November 3rd, 2017, gives us a less redacted, wider and more complete view of the installation (bottom video).

The command center is replete with rows of work stations, lots flat screen displays and plenty of red phones, not to mention a special throne-like desk for Xi Jinping. A huge map display system in located in the center of the room. It is unclear exactly what the capability of this map is or how it is really meant to be viewed. Logically it would be a situational map of the region, where the locations of units, ships and vessels could be displayed and particular areas could be zoomed in upon, but then again it could just be a big ass map in an awkward position. The whole place has something of a “set piece” or staged feel to it, similar to Russia’s largest command center that was built around the same time.

During Xi Jinping’s recent visit to the facility, he stressed readiness and improving the military’s combat capability as well as the ability for the CMC to fight and win wars—pretty boilerplate stuff—but he also teleconferenced with deployed units, including troops stationed at China’s new base in Djibouti which itself is more than meets the eye . The Horn of Africa outpost largely represents China’s future military ambitions, which have morphed from regional to global in scale .

Who knows how effective this elaborate facility actually would be during a time of conflict, but maybe that’s not the point. If anything else it represents what China strives to become militarily, and based on their track record over the last two decades, they will eventually achieve their goals.

Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com

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更新于美国东部时间2017年11月7日下午6:32

我们“战区”栏目对战略指挥与控制相关的一切都非常感兴趣，尤其关注美国的潜在对手。我们曾探访过位于莫斯科国防部改建大楼内的俄罗斯庞大指挥中心，而现在，得益于最新发布的视频，我们得以一窥中国军委联合作战中心的内部运作。

该中心据称成立于2014-2015年左右，是旨在提升中国军队统一作战能力、并促进中国最高领导层精简指挥控制的一系列改革措施的一部分。位于这一指挥体系顶端的是习近平主席，他不仅是中共中央总书记，也是中国国家主席。近年来，他还效仿美国总统的称号，采用了“三军统帅”的头衔，并持续推进一系列权力巩固举措，进一步加强了他对军队的控制，并减少了中国政治领导层内部的竞争。

中国“最高统帅”习近平在联合战斗指挥中心中央的专属办公桌前主持会议，YouTube 截图

我们之前曾多次瞥见过这座指挥中心，最引人注目的一次是在2016年初（上方视频），当时身着迷彩服的习近平参观了该设施。最近一段视频于几天前的2017年11月3日发布，为我们呈现了更为完整、视野更广阔的指挥中心景象（下方视频）。

指挥中心里摆满了成排的工作站、大量的液晶显示器和许多红色电话，更不用说习近平主席那张如同宝座般的特制办公桌了。房间中央安装着一套巨大的地图显示系统。目前尚不清楚这套地图的具体功能以及它的使用方式。从逻辑上讲，它应该是一张区域态势图，可以显示部队、舰船的位置，并能放大查看特定区域；但另一方面，它也可能只是一张摆放位置略显尴尬的大地图而已。整个指挥中心给人一种“精心布置”或刻意营造的感觉，类似于同期建造的俄罗斯最大的指挥中心。

习近平主席最近视察该设施时，强调了军队战备和作战能力的提升，以及中央军委打赢战争的能力——这些话听起来很老套——但他同时也与部署部队进行了视频通话，其中包括驻扎在中国吉布提新基地的部队。这个基地本身的意义远不止表面看起来那么简单。这个位于非洲之角的军事前哨在很大程度上代表了中国未来的军事雄心，其规模已从区域性扩展到全球性。

谁也说不准这座精心设计的设施在战乱时期究竟能发挥多大作用，但或许这并非重点。更重要的是，它代表了中国在军事上努力追求的目标，而根据过去二十年的战绩来看，他们最终会实现这些目标。

联系作者：Tyler@thedrive.com

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