The modernisation of the People’s Liberation Army has been dramatic, rapid, and occasionally secretive. Earlier this month, we got a bit of a window into the equipment side of that transformation process, with Beijing opting to show of dozens of weapon systems (many for the first time publicly) as part of their commemoration of the 80th anniversary of Japan’s 1945 defeat.From the start of the 21st Century the PRC has transitioned from being overwhelmingly reliant on derivatives of Soviet and Russian platforms to a country capable of pushing forward with its own designs supported by the world’s largest manufacturing base. Today, I look at a selection of those designs and ask what they can tell us about where the PLA is in its modernisation journey, and where it might be going in the future.