Snow Leopard Commando Unit

Namesake

The former "Snow Wolf" name was inspired by the ability of the Arctic wolf to survive and thrive under harsh conditions.

According to Qu Liangfeng, a senior PAP officer in charge of the daily operations of SLCU, the name change was "inspired by the story of a brave and cunning snow leopard, which escaped an ambush by a hunter and his eight hunting dogs."

Officially, the SLCU is the 1st Special Operations Detachment, 2nd Mobile Corps.

History

The SWCU was secretly established in December 2002 and trained in secret for five years.

The SWCU and the Beijing SWAT unit were unveiled in a demonstration at the Beijing Police Academy on 27 April 2006 as part of a public relations effort to illustrate the capabilities of the PAP to deal with terrorism, the protection of delegates, and to enforce law and order in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The SWCU had participated in an anti-terrorist exercises with Russia on 4 September 2007 known as "Cooperation-2007."

On 13 November 2007, SWCU operators were involved in anti-terrorist exercise before foreign military VIPs.

The unit's name was changed in 2008 to the Snow Leopard Commando Unit.

In 2013 and 2014, the SLCU participated in the Annual Warrior Competition.

In 2018, the SLCU was moved from the to the 2nd Mobile Corps.

Duties

SLCU' tasks include counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, riot control, serving high-risk arrest and search warrants, anti-hijacking, anti-WMD terrorism, bomb disposal, counterinsurgency, crowd control, law enforcement tactics against crime, VBSS, and VIP protection.

Training and selection

SLCU applicants must have one to two years of PAP service and undergo interviews, physical and psychological tests.

In 2006, the average age of SLCU officers was 22 years, with most entering at 18; the SLCU was among the youngest in the Chinese counter-terrorism community.

Candidates undergo physical training, driving lessons for various vehicles, and weapons training.

Physical training includes 200 push-ups, 200 sit-ups, 100 squats, lifting barbells 200 times and carrying a 35 kg load for a 10 km cross-country run.

Organization

The SLCU consists of four companies assigned with very specific responsibilities:

Equipment

The unit has spent about CNY 2 million (approximately US$ 258,000) in domestically manufactured armored personnel carriers for riot control and has also imported CNY 4 million worth of American-manufactured vehicles and equipment.

Each SLCU operator is estimated to be outfitted with CNY 300,000 (approximately US$48,000) worth of equipment, including their body armor and communications equipment.

The SLCU is the first unit in the PAP to be equipped with the W-15 helmet, an improved version of the QGF11, in 2015.

Uniform

The SLCU is known to wear the Type 05 digital camouflage uniform issued by the PAP, although they are now using the Type 07 digital camouflage uniform.

In overseas operations, they have velcro patches with the Chinese flag and 'CHINA' on the patch, usually with the language of the region where they operate in.

Vehicles

• CSZ-181

Weapons

The currently known SLCU-used weapons are as follows:

Notable operations

The SLCU, along with Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau's SWAT unit (under the Ministry of Public Security (MPS)), was tasked with many of the security responsibilities of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

SWCU operators have been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq to protect Chinese diplomatic personnel.

In 2011, the SLCU was deployed to Xinjiang to support alleged counter-terror police operations and, according to the Public Security Bureau of Xinjiang, for "detecting and eliminating" what it called "unsafe elements" and to "crack down illegal religious activities" in the context of the China-Eurasian Expo convention.

References

Bibliography

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