The 7th Marine Brigade (Chinese: 海军陆战队第七旅), commonly known as the "Jiaolong Commandos" or as the "Sea Dragons" (Chinese: (蛟龙突击队), is a special operations forces in the People's Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps. The brigade is based in Sanya, Hainan Island. The brigade was named the Special Operations Brigade (Chinese: 特種作戰旅). According to a 2025 Voice of America article, the Jiaolong Commandos is now named the 7th Marine Brigade. The brigade has at least three special operations battalions and one reconnaissance battalion.
History
The unit was founded as the Naval Special Operations Battalion (Chinese: 海军特种作战大队) in 2002.
On 26 December 2008, 70 soldiers from the unit were deployed to Somalia, where they conducted anti-piracy operations.
In 2015, Jiaolong commandos participated in the evacuation of 571 Chinese citizens and over 200 other foreign nationals from Yemen after a Saudi-led coalition began airstrikes against the Houthi rebel group (Yemen Civil War). In April 2017 the Tuvalu-registered cargo ship OS35 was hijacked by Somali pirates in the waters of the Gulf of Aden. At the time, the PLA Navy's Yulin, a Type 054A Frigate in China's South Sea Fleet was participating in anti-piracy patrols. Sixteen PLA Navy Special Forces, led by a special forces platoon leader, boarded the ship and rescued the crew.
On 5 May 2017, three pirates were captured by the unit's personnel and handed over to the Somali Police Force.
Missions
The brigade is used for Visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS), anti-piracy, air assault, direct action, combat diving, sabotage and amphibious reconnaissance.
In popular culture
The 2018 film Operation Red Sea is loosely based on the unit's involvement in the evacuation of Chinese and foreign nationals in the Yemeni Civil War and also depicts the unit.
Equipment
- QBZ-95 assault rifle
- QBZ-191 assault rifle
- QSZ-92 semi-auto pistol
- QBS-06 underwater assault rifle
- QCQ-171 sub machine gun
- QBU-10 sniper rifle
- Night-vision devices
- Unmanned aerial vehicles (drones)
See also
- Navy SEALS - USA
- Marine Raiders - USA
- Special Boat Service - UK
- Russian Naval Spetsnaz - Russia
- MARCOS - India
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of Defense.
Bibliography
- Erickson, Andrew S; Kennedy, Conor M; Martinson, Ryan D (2024). "Study No. 8, Chinese Amphibious Warfare: Prospects for a Cross-Strait Invasion". CMSI Studies in China Maritime Development. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
- Kennedy, Conor (October 2021). "China Maritime Report No. 15: The New Chinese Marine Corps: A "Strategic Dagger" in a Cross-Strait Invasion". CMSI China Maritime Reports (10–2021).10–2021&rft.date=2021-10&rft.aulast=Kennedy&rft.aufirst=Conor&rft_id=https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cmsi-maritime-reports/15/&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Special Operations Brigade (PLA Navy Marine Corps)">
- Masafumi, IIDA (27 September 2022). "The Current Status and Prospects of China's Growing Marine Corps" (PDF). NIDS Commentary (238). National Institute for Defense Studies. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
- Wood, Peter (August 2018). "The Emergence of the PLA Navy's "Jiaolong" Commando Unit" (PDF). OE Watch. 8 (8). Foreign Military Studies Office. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 April 2021. This article incorporates public domain material from The Emergence of the PLA Navy’s “Jiaolong” Commando Unit. United States Army.
Further reading
- Jiayao, Li (15 April 2019). "The Jiaolong Commandos". China Military Online. PRC Ministry of Defense. China Global Television Network. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
- Ameng, Tian (23 April 2019). "A peek into spec ops team of PLA Navy". China Daily. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
- Peck, Michael (2 July 2021) [September 2018]. "China's [PRC] Special Forces: The Most Elite Group You've Never Heard Of". The National Interest. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
