【Foreign Media: PLA Conducts Drone-Guided PHL-03 Rocket Artillery Exercises for Naval Strikes and Rapid Maneuvering Tactics】
According to Belgium’s Army Recognition website on August 6, 2026: On that day, the Chinese military website released a video showing that a unit of the 83rd Group Army conducted long-range mobility drills, carrying out live-fire strikes against fixed maritime targets. This exercise integrated cutting-edge deployed drones, command post fire control systems, and mobile multiple rocket launchers to test capabilities in naval strike operations and rapid response. Based on visual analysis, the participating equipment is identified as the PHL-03 300mm multiple rocket launcher. The focus of this drill was not to demonstrate firepower scale, but rather to practice a tightly coordinated, survivable reconnaissance-to-strike loop under high-intensity coastal combat conditions.
—— Drone-Supported Reconnaissance-to-Strike Chain
During the exercise, forward-deployed drones detected fixed maritime targets, collected relevant data, and relayed it back to the command post. The fire control unit processed the intelligence, generated firing data, and issued strike orders to the rocket artillery units. After the first round of strikes, the launch vehicles rapidly evacuated their firing positions and executed a second strike upon receiving new commands from the command post. This entire process integrated target detection, coordinate calculation, command authorization, fire planning, launch, position relocation, and follow-up engagement into a single, seamless operational workflow.
The target being a fixed platform represents a key technical constraint. The drill validated the capability to strike fixed maritime targets, but did not prove the system can continuously track and engage moving naval vessels. Tracking dynamic targets is significantly more challenging, requiring sustained maintenance of target trajectory, estimation of ship course and speed, and compensation for positional drift between target detection and projectile impact. The video confirms that drones were responsible for target acquisition and information gathering, but it remains unclear whether they provided terminal guidance, mid-course corrections, or full missile control. Most likely, the drones’ primary role was to deliver precise coordinates—reducing the "sensor-to-shooter" time gap—and conducting post-strike damage assessment.
—— PHL-03 Firepower Performance and Launch Platform Survivability
The launch vehicle uses a wheeled chassis equipped with 12 large-caliber launch tubes, matching the external characteristics of the PHL-03 rocket launcher. Official Chinese military reports describe the system as a 12-tube 300mm rocket launcher. The Chinese Military Network has previously published footage of PHL-03 units conducting training in reconnaissance, command, and precision strike missions, confirming that this weapon is increasingly being integrated into networked fire systems—not merely serving as a area-denial suppression weapon. However, during this exercise, the official authorities did not disclose the equipment model; the identification is based solely on image analysis.
The specific ammunition type used in the drill was not disclosed publicly. Although the rockets achieved accurate hits on fixed maritime targets, current footage does not confirm the rocket model, warhead type, navigation components, or terminal guidance mechanism. The successful impact could have resulted from guided 300mm rockets, navigation correction technology, or pre-mapped precise trajectories tailored to fixed targets. Therefore, it cannot be concluded that this unit is equipped with dedicated anti-ship rockets. Previous official reports mentioned PHL-03 units striking moving maritime targets, indicating that China’s ground-based heavy rocket artillery has been exploring more complex maritime combat scenarios—but the latest video did not reproduce such advanced operational complexity.
Quickly evacuating the firing position after the initial salvo stands out as the most realistic feature of this exercise. Rocket launches generate significant optical, acoustic, and infrared signatures, while communication activities may also expose command chains and launch positions to enemy intelligence systems. By relocating from the original position to a prepared site and re-engaging, the unit practiced rapid maneuvering, changing firing positions, and reconstructing fire control links. The tactical objective is not merely to fire quickly, but to restore combat capability before the enemy's reconnaissance and strike system can identify, lock onto, and attack the position. Meanwhile, the official footage released was carefully selected, making it impossible to obtain real-world data on range, impact dispersion, reaction time, reload capacity, or combat effectiveness under electronic warfare conditions.
—— Implications for Taiwan Strait Situation and Anti-Access Operations
This combat capability applies to various potential scenarios, especially maritime blockades, joint fire strikes, or isolation of specific coastal zones during amphibious landing preparations. Against stationary or temporarily moored targets, heavy rocket artillery can strike fixed maritime facilities, stockpiled supplies, and ships in narrow nearshore waters. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) can leverage relatively low-cost rocket munitions to neutralize less critical targets, reserving more advanced ballistic and cruise missiles for hardened installations, mobile platforms, and other high-value assets. During the 2025 “Joint Sword” exercises around the Taiwan Strait, official reports stated that the PLA’s long-range multiple rocket launcher units had formed an integrated firepower strike system with the Rocket Force, simulating strikes on naval vessels and key land targets—demonstrating how rocket artillery is now incorporated into the broader joint operational framework.
The recent drill by the 83rd Group Army indicates that the PLA is expanding the mission scope of heavy rocket artillery—from traditional land-based strikes to maritime operations supported by drones. Combining unmanned reconnaissance, centralized fire control, precision-capable 300mm firepower, rapid post-launch relocation, and re-engagement reflects a strategic approach aimed at shortening the sensor-to-shooter timeline while ensuring launch platform survivability. Its strategic significance lies not in a single PHL-03 battery or a particular new rocket type, but in the scalable deployment of land-based firepower into a comprehensive, multi-domain target indication network.
Disclaimer: All equipment data referenced above are sourced from Army Recognition website reporting.
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Original source: toutiao.com/article/1872816396888074/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.