People's Liberation Army Navy Coastal Defense Force

The People's Liberation Army Navy Coastal Defense Force (PLANCDF) 中国人民解放军海军岸防兵 is one of five branches of the People's Liberation Army Navy. The Coastal Defence Force is a land-based fighting force that mostly consists of several batteries of mobile anti-ship missiles, plus a Surface to air missile component. Its main mission is to protect shore facilities, deny the use of China's near seas to enemy vessels, and prevent any coastal landings.

Not to be confused with the People's Liberation Army Ground Force's Coastal Defense or "Sea Guard" units (海防团), who are simply border guards posted to coastal areas, and have no large anti-ship capacities (although they generally are equipped with patrol boats).

History
When the Korean War broke out on 26 June 1950, United States's President Harry Truman announced the "neutralization of the Straits of Formosa", which meant stationing the Seventh Fleet in the Taiwan Strait and an effective blockade of the Chinese coast.

In response, the Central Military Commission issued an order in July 1950 to establish a Coastal Artillery School. The Sixth Artillery Division of the Northeast Military Region was sent south from Shenyang to the former German barracks in Woniushan, Qingdao, together with a group of artillery detachments from all over the PLA, including 16 surrendered members of the Kuomintang Navy. This hastily assembled contingent was established as the Naval Coastal Artillery School on 24 August 1950. The commander of the Sixth Artillery Division Wang Xiaoming served as the principal. On 21 October 1950, 258 graduates formed the first coastal artillery battalion in Tuandao, Qingdao. They were equipped with 130mm shore guns.

From 1954 to 1955, the new unit participated in the battle for sea control in Eastern Zhejiang and the battle of Yijiangshan Islands. In 1955, the CDF took over the Soviet artillery left behind at Lüda (Dalian) after the Soviets returned Port Arthur and Dalian (which they had occupied since 1945) to the Chinese. By the end of 1955, the CDF had 19 artillery battalions with 343 Soviet, American and Japanese artillery pieces, and units were deployed in 13 coastal bases and ports, 4 river estuaries, 3 straits and waterways, and 18 islands. On 24 December 1958, the first shore-to-ship missiles were introduced from the Soviet Union, the SSC-2B "Samlet"

In 1958, in preparation for the Bombardment of Kinmen, a railway artillery regiment was transferred from Lushun, and two companies from the Naval Coastal Artillery School went south to participate in the battle. The 150th Shore Artillery Company was stationed in Fujian. On the day of the bombardment of Kinmen on August 23, 1958, the shore artillery position was hit by an enemy shell and the ammunition packages stacked behind it were hit. In the ensuing fire, the gunlayer An Yemin suffered deadly burns while battling to keep firing, and earned a highly publicized "Martyr" status. On August 2, 1958, the second day of the Kinmen Artillery Battle, two shore artillery batteries bombarded ROC ships in Liaoluo Bay on Kinmen Island, destroying a landing ship.

The first shore missile force was established in April 1959. The first shore-to-ship missile group was established in 1963. In 1961, China started developing the storied "Silkworm" missile. The first domestic shore-to-ship missile battalion was established in 1967. On 26 October, the first SAM unit was established.

Mission
Their original mission of the PLANCMF was to defend China's coastal areas from invasion via amphibious landings or air-attack. First, there were the raids and invasion threat from the Republic of China's forces. Then, throughout the 1960s to 1980s, the Coastal Defense Force was focused on defending China's coast from a possible Soviet sea-borne invasion. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the threat of an amphibious invasion of China has diminished and therefore the branch is often considered to no-longer be a vital component of the PLAN. Especially as the surface warships of the PLAN continue to improve in terms of anti-ship and air-defense capabilities.

However, the role of the PLANCDF is no longer to deter enemy landings, or even to protect ports and seashore facilities. It's main use now is as an offensive area denial force, and defensively to produce a defense in depth that can serve as fleet refuge in case of needing to retreat. The YJ-83 missile was introduced in the 1990s, giving a large boost in range. The even rangier YJ-62 was introduced in 2005. In 2008 the "Coastal Thunderbolt 1st Regiment" was established, which was the first fully mobile anti-ship unit, capable of deploying in unprepared positions and of operating in hostile electromagnetic environments. In the 2010s, the supersonic YJ-12B, with a range of 250 nmi started to be deployed. The introduction of informatized kill chains based on China's extensive network of coastal radars greatly expanding the CDF effective area of sea control. Currently, bases seem to be established in position where they can have overlapping fields of fire for maximum firepower at chokepoints.

Structure
A Coastal Defense Missile Force (CDMF) mobile missile regiment is a regiment leader grade unit. Each normally deploys 4 battalions, each with 4 batteries of missiles. Each battery is composed of 4 WS2X00 Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) vehicles with three missiles, and 1 command and control vehicle. Additional support vehicles and missile reloads are sometimes attached. There are as of 2024 at least three Coastal Defense Regiments (one per Fleet), probably five, each armed with 48-72 ASBMs launched from road mobile units. Several independent battalions are likely to exist. The current bulk of the CDF missiles as of 2023 are YJ-62 launched from WS2400 TELs, and YJ-12B launched from WS2600 TELs, from either prepared ("improved" firing position with clear lines of sight and hardened surfaces, or from unimproved firing positions that cannot be predicted by the enemy. The CDF is expected to incorporate the YJ-18 coastal variant in the near future (as of 2024). As of 2012, the CDR deployed 120 Y-62. The YJ-83s are as of 2024 retired.

CDF barracks almost invariable keep their missiles in hardened garages or underground facilities (UGFs) to increase survivability. While in mobile mission, camouflaging and "shoot and scoot" tactics are used.

Eastern Theater Command
The CDM missile bases of the Eastern Fleet are concentrated on the Taiwan Strait, and all deploy YJ-12B.

Northern Theater Command
The Northern Fleet CDF seems to mostly protect the entrance to the Bohai sea sanctuary.

Southern Theater Command
South Fleet CDF seems to be deployed to control the routes around the disputed South China Sea islands.