The term artillery, as used by the PLA, include field artillery and tactical missile. Their equipments include field guns, anti-tank guns, howitzers, gun-howitzers, artillery rockets, mortars, recoilless guns, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), and tactical surface-to-surface missiles.
Artillery units in the PLA are basically of two types: independent and organic. independent artillery units are controlled at military region level. Artillery divisions and brigades are organic to group armies; artillery regiments are organic to infantry and armoured divisions and brigades; artillery battalions are organic to infantry and armoured regiments. The PLA ground forces currently have 3 artillery divisions and 11 artillery brigades.
The PLA artillery corps emphasises towed guns, howitzers, and truck-mounted multiple rocket launchers (MRL). Some self-propelled artillery have entered service with armoured units since the 1990s, but the PLA continues deploying MRL as a cheaper but not totally effective alternative to self-propelled guns.
The main roles of the PLA artillery corps include:
Destroying and suppressing enemy troops and armour formations;
Destroying enemy defensive facilities, and destroy enemy’s obstacles to open paths;
Destroying and suppressing enemy command posts, observation posts, radar stations, and communications centres;
Engaging and suppressing enemy artillery, anti-tank missiles, and tactical missiles;
Engaging enemy surface targets in the sea;
Carrying out special firing missions for smoke, illumination, and propaganda materials;
