54th Group Army

Last updated: 10 January 2008

Headquartered in Luoyang City, Henan Province, the 54th Group Army (GA) is one of the three group armies under the command of the Jinan Military Region. The group army is in high readiness as a strategic reserve, stationed in central China and ready to be deployed anywhere in the country without significant train-up. In the 1990s, its subordinated 127th and 162nd Division were both appointed as one of PLA’s “Rapid Reaction Units” (RRU) that can be deployed to respond to an emergency crisis within a short period of time.

The 54th GA was formed in 1985 on the basis of the PLA 54th Corps, which consisted of three motorised infantry divisions. In 1987, the 54th GA formed one of PLA’s first army aviation groups, equipped with 20~30 helicopters.

In 1997, its subordinated 127th Motorised Infantry Division became PLA’s first light mechanised infantry division, equipped with ZSL92 series wheeled armoured fighting vehicles.

In 1998, the 160th Motorised Infantry Division of the 54th GA was downsized to a brigade, which was subsequently disbanded during PLA’s 2003 force reduction programme.

The 54th GA lost its subordinated armoured brigade in 1998 to the 20th GA, in exchange for the 11th Armoured Division.

The subordinated AAA brigade was renamed “Air Defence Brigade” to reflect the introduction of surface-to-air missiles.

Currently, the 54th GA is composed of 127th Light Mechanised Infantry Division (Luoyang), 162nd Motorised Infantry Division (Nanyang), 11th Armoured Division (Xinyang), 1st Army Aviation Regiment (Xinxiang), an artillery brigade (Jiaozuo), an engineer regiment (Qinyang), and a signal regiment.