PLA frogman rides surfboard. (Weibo screenshot) PLA frogman rides surfboard. (Weibo screenshot)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Video surfaced last week showing People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers practicing an amphibious landing while riding on jet-power surfboards.

In recent years, the PLA has stepped up preparations for an amphibious assault on Taiwan with the development of amphibious tanks, hovercraft, landing platform docks, and civilian roll-on roll-off (RoRo) ferries. Late last month and early this month, seven Chinese civilian car ferries were spotted engaging in amphibious landing drills on Chinese beaches in the Taiwan Strait.

On Sept. 27, military enthusiast @louischeung_hk posted a 24-second video on Twitter showing PLA frogmen riding what appear to be jet-powered surfboards. The video originates from China Youth Daily and was posted on the Weibo account "Four minutes and thirty-three seconds" (四分三十三秒) that same day.

In the video, soldiers in black wetsuits can be seen carrying large, waterproof rucksacks as they lie prone on the surfboards. The tiny craft are only large enough to hold one man and are self-propelled. One rider can be seen wearing goggles, and the face of another can be seen in another shot as he peers over the board.

After focusing on individual riders, the camera pans out to show a full squad of 12 men who can be seen riding the surfboards in tight formation. Toward the end of the video, the frogmen can be seen landing on a beach and discarding their boards as they are guided in by a man waving red flags.

In the final scene, the commandos rush up the beach with assault rifles in hand.

Netizens pointed out the shortcomings of such surfboards, such as their short range and exposure to enemy fire:

"They are unlikely to have a long range, only limited load-bearing capabilities, and when the waves are high, only Olympians could complete the mission."

"Taiwan strait is home to the world's most dangerous sharks: tiger sharks, great bull sharks, and great whites are all now drooling in anticipation."

"They won't cross Taiwan Strait with that but instead be dropped off from the mothership or submarine."

"Can they cross the Taiwan Strait? And they better be underwater because there will be helicopters overhead with snipers and 20mm cannons."

"Damn, doing all of that training, working hard to be the best, learning an entirely new way to fight a war just to become the flag waver."

One Twitter user pointed out that the boards look very similar to a "carbon fiber electric water jet powered surfboard" sold on Alibaba.

Carbon fiber water jet surfboard sold on Alibaba. (Alibaba image)

PLA's new equipment for individual landing operations pic.twitter.com/5gSTs1W9x0

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