Among the 56 phalanxes, which will march past or fly over Tian'anmen in downtown Beijing on Thursday morning, six are making their debut in the National Day military parade.

-- Special Forces

The People's Liberation Army Special Forces unit was established in the 1990s. Its mission includes anti-terror and emergency response. Their equipment and weaponry are different from other Army units. Besides small arms like rifle, silenced gun and dagger, special forces are also equipped with high-tech devices like unmanned aerial vehicles, battlefield video, infrared imaging device, global positioning device and battlefield intelligence processing system.

-- Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

The UAV unit belongs to specialized services. The UAVs to be displayed in the National Day parade consist of three types of short-range and intermediate-range UAVs.

-- Women Soldiers of the PLA Three Services

A total of 378 women soldiers of the PLA Army, Navy and Air Force form an individual phalanx in the parade. Women soldiers participated in the previous two National Day military parades in 1984 and in 1999, but they were only from the Army.

-- Armored Vehicles of the Armed Police

The phalanx of the armed police armored vehicles is from a Special Brigade of the Chinese People's Armed Police, called Snow Leopard Commando. This is the first time that the armed police joined the equipment phalanxes. In the National Day military parades in 1984 and 1999, armed police only joined personnel phalanxes. The Special Brigade of the Chinese People's Armed Police was established in 1990 and named "Snow Leopard Commando" in 2007. The brigade has joined many major missions in recent years, including the China-Russia anti-terror exercise and security work for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

-- Women Pilots

Fifteen women pilots will fly 15 trainer aircraft in Thursday's National Day military parade. This is the first time women pilots join the national celebrations.

-- Logistic Equipment Phalanx

Military logistic equipment has never been displayed in the National Day military parades before. The equipment to be displayed includes field operation vehicles, staple food vehicles, water purification vehicles and oil tankers. They are the most advanced logistic equipment of the PLA.

(Xinhua News Agency October 1, 2009)