In what could provide China with a strategic edge over India in high-altitude warfare, the troops of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Xinjiang Military Command stationed on the Karakoram Plateau, which spans across parts of Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, and China, will have improved access to oxygen with the setting up of a 20-kilometer oxygen supply zone. The Xinjiang Military Command is part of the broader Western Theater Command of PLA responsible for managing potential conflicts along borders with India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia.
The soldiers of Hotan Military sub-command of the Xinjiang Military Command, stationed at an altitude of 5,380 meters, used to manage with oxygen content less than 40 per cent available in the plains.
According to Global Times, PLA has been making efforts to provide more oxygen to troops with oxygen production cabins, pressurised oxygen chambers, and portable oxygen cylinders or individual oxygen generators.
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According to a soldier, in 2010, the fifth-generation barracks were equipped with oxygen systems which ensured that at least an hour daily, soldiers inhale oxygen, helping them increase the oxygen levels in the bloodstream.
There have been further improvements since then, including an oxygen-enriched indoor training facility equipped with heating, humidifiers, and oxygen generators. This initiative was followed by indoor gyms with treadmills and spin bikes.
According to PLA Daily, in 2020, oxygen production cabins were set up in the region. In the next year, an oxygen therapy chamber was established, helping the troops breathe oxygen under normal atmospheric pressure.
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"Compared with self-inhalation of oxygen, the chamber provides more controllable, targeted and scientific health care functions," PLA Daily quoted a military doctor as saying.
Increased availability of oxygen in high altitude areas would ensure that there is a major reduction in altitude sickness leading to enhanced combat capabilities. Health Bureau of the CMC Logistic Support Department stated that soon, oxygen generators and individual oxygen supply devices will be set up in such high altitude areas, enhancing the war-readiness of the troops.
