The 52 Base (96151 Unit) headquartered in Qimen (Huangshan), Anhui Province is the newest and largest missile base of the Second Artillery Corps (SAC), consisting of seven missile brigades. Activated in the early 1990s, the 52 Base was the first SAC base to be equipped primarily with conventional theatre missiles, aimed at targets in Taiwan. Currently the 52 Base consists of two DF-21/CSS-5 MRBM brigades (807, 811), two DF-15/CSS-6 SRBM brigades (815, 817), and three DF-11/CSS-7 SRBM brigades (818, 819, 820).
The 807 Brigade (96161 Unit) equipped with DF-21/CSS-5 MRBM is based at Chizhou City, Anhui Province.
The 811 Brigade (96163 Unit) equipped with DF-21/CSS-5 MRBM is based at two locations. Two units (96163/58 and 96163/59 Sub-Unit) are based at Qimen (Huangshan), Anhui Province. Another unit (96163/62 Sub-Unit) is based at Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province.
The 815 Brigade (96165 Unit) formed in 1993 was the first conventional missile brigade of the SAC. Currently the 815 Brigade is equipped with the improved DF-15C SRBM featuring a cylinder-shape second-stage for extended range and much improved accuracy.
The 817 Brigade (96167 Unit) was the second unit of the 52 Base to be equipped with the DF-15 SRBM. The brigade is stationed in Yongan, Fujian Province.
The 818 Brigade (96169 Unit) based in Meizhou, Guangdong Province, the 819 Brigade (96162 Unit) based in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, and the 820 Brigade (96164 Unit) based in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province are all equipped with the DF-11/CSS-7 SRBM.
In time of crisis, there are two additional DF-11 brigades under the control the PLA Nanjing Military Region and Guangzhou Military Region respectively. The total number of SRBM aimed at Taiwan was estimated to be 800~1,000 by Western intelligence.
Taiwan Strait Missile Tests
Official media image of the DF-15 missile test during the 1995/96 Taiwan Strait Crisis (Chinese Internet)
During the 1995~96 Taiwan Strait Crisis, under the direct order of the then Chinese president Jiang Zemin, the PLA conducted two missile test launches as a warning to the island's independent movement.
In July 1995, the 815 brigade conducted the first missile test, with six missile fired. The first pair of missiles were launched on 21 July at 01:00 local time, from a location in the Qianshan County in Jiangxi Province. The second pair of missiles were launched on 22 July between 00:00~02:00 local time. The third pair of missiles were launched on 24 July 02:00~04:00 local time. 5 out of 6 missiles reportedly hit the target zone in the international water northwest of Taiwan.
As the tension between China Mainland and Taiwan grew, in March 1996, the 815 Brigade was mobilised from its base in Jiangxi Province to the two launch sites in Yongan and Nanping, Fujian Province, over a distance of several hundred kilometres, 60 hours prior to the scheduled launch time. On 8 March at 00:00~01:00 local time, two DF-15 SRBMs were launched almost simultaneously from two locations and both missile hit the target zone. At around 01:00 local time, another missile was launched from one of the launch vehicles which were involved in the earlier launches to demonstrate its rapid reloading capability. On 12 March the fourth missile was launched and hit the scheduled target zone.
