People’s Liberation Army
One of the most powerful military forces in the world, China is an intense process of modernization, currently spending approximately 4.3% of its GDP on defence (according to CIA World Factbook).
Although much of the PLA equipment is outdated, it is believed that this will not last for long. In a direct conflict, China will always have an advantage not through its technological superiority but through the shear number of its forces.
Rough numbers regarding its forces:
Land forces
1.6 million army manpower
7,580 tanks
2,000 light tanks
3,500 APCs (excluding light tanks)
3,600 self-propelled artillery and MRL(rocket lunchers)
17,700 other artillery pieces
453 helicopters
More than a half of the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) tanks (7200) are composed of the aging Type 59 and Type 69, which are the Chinese versions of the Russian T-54/55 tank, and outdated model that entered service in 1951.
T-55 is still in use in Russia, but as a reserve force, the Russian MBT (Main Battle Tank) is the T-72 and T-80, which are far superior.
In the 80s, Chinese have developed new types of tanks, the Type 80, which lead to the Type 88, and Type 85, which was further improved into the Type 96. Type 96 has been made in a series of versions, each one being an improvement of the other (Type 96, 98, 99). The Type 9x series is capable of competing with the tanks of other modern armies. However, only about 1000 Type 80/88 are now in service and the numbers for the Type 96 are unknown but believed to be around 2000, still even considering these numbers their force should not be underestimated.
The Type 96/99:
Air forces
400,000 personnel
1,250 jet fighters
222 bombers
1,169 ground attack jets
80 helicopters
296 transport aircraft
Most of the Jet fighters are composed of J-7 and J-8, which are Chinese versions of the Russian MIG-19 and MIG-21. These are old models dating from the 1960s and 1970s. They are in a desperate need of change if China wants to have any say concerning air power.
Currently there are about 100 J-11 which are almost the same as the Russian Su-27, a challanger to the American F-16. They are part of the modernization of Chinese Military forces.
Naval forces
250,000 sailors
37 submarines (7 Nuclear-Powered and 30 Diesel-Electric)
21 destroyers
42 frigates
As with the other Chinese forces, most of the naval forces are based on Russian weaponry or have been purchased from Russia. They are also out-dated, but new equipment that is more modern has been lately on the shopping list, including a Chinese-built aircraft carrier and new ballistic missiles submarines. The Navy has about 600 fighter jets (F-4, F-5, F-6, F-7), Chinese versions of vintage types of Russian MIGs.
Strategic forces
China has about 46 intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of hitting the US after suffering a first strike. Apart from this, China has about 800 short and median range ballistic missiles and its currently developing more accurate and improved-range missiles. China’s cybernetic warfare capabilities are not very well known, yet it is suspected that they have been testing them in series of “virtual” attacks.
source for most information on numbers is http://www.csis.org/
May 17, 2007 at 3:48 am
Some interesting facets:
1. As scary as the line-up appears in the attachment, there are
factors that make it much less so.Many of the ships under construction
are experimental (not always intentional) except for Type 2208. The
Chinese are working on their warship building techniques &
experimenting with new designs. Not all of these efforts work out. As
a result, Chinese ship classes tend to be much smaller, often two to
three ships. If something doesn’t work out, the Chinese stop building
it, and move on to a new and improved design. In short, China’s
current program is mainly intended to facilitate building today for
the future, as in 20-30 years down the road.
May 17, 2007 at 1:46 pm
I know what you’re saying, in terms of R&D they still lag behind Russia and far worse behind US. However, they have been working in several fields (aeronautics, submarines) with Russian expertise and that might help them a bit.
Here’s a good example: http://www.geocities.com/spacetransport/aircraft-xxj.html
November 21, 2007 at 7:23 pm
[...] Ca sa va faceti o idee despre ce inseamna armata chineza si de ce se tem de multe ori americanii de un curent chinezesc anti-american (care pe moment exista din cauza Taiwanului dar nu se materializeaza pentru ca RPC este un bun creditor si un aliat de nadejde in industria automobilistica) va ofer link-ul catre statisticile adunate de wpolitik. [...]
February 5, 2008 at 1:24 pm
[...] Ca sa va faceti o idee despre ce inseamna armata chineza si de ce se tem de multe ori americanii de un curent chinezesc anti-american (care pe moment exista din cauza Taiwanului dar nu se materializeaza pentru ca RPC este un bun creditor si un aliat de nadejde in industria automobilistica) va ofer link-ul catre statisticile adunate de wpolitik. [...]
April 15, 2009 at 2:09 pm
After reading through this article, I just feel that I need more info. Can you suggest some more resources ?
April 26, 2009 at 2:00 pm
It is hard to find exact information on military capabilities, these type of information is usually the realm of “special” government services. However, there is a very good paper that does have public information on world military powers it is published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, available at http://www.iiss.org/. However, having access to this yearly publication (Military Balance 2009) requires a fair amount of money (about 120 pounds/175 USD).
December 7, 2009 at 6:17 am
fAR WORSE BEHIND usa? WTF THE rUSSIANS AND THE aMERICANS ARE ALL EQUAL IN MOST ASPECTS OF MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, BOTH HAVE THEIR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES TECHNOLOGICALLY. tO SAY THAT THE CHINESE LAG RUSSIA AND MORE LAG AGAINST THE USA IS RIDICULOUS. THE CHINESE LAG EQUALLY BEHIND RUSSIA AND USA. THERE ISNT A FIELD THAT THE USA HAS THAT THE RUSSIANS ARE NOT GOOD AT. THE ONLY THING IS STEALTH TECHNOLOGY, WHICH THE RUSSIANS ALREADY HAVE A PROTOTYPE STEALTH PLANE MEANT FOR FLIGHT ANYWHERE 2009 NEAR THE END OF THE YEAR. CHINA LAGS BEHIND RUSSIA AND USA, TO SAY THAT CHINA LAGS MORE TERRIBLY BEHIND USA IS SAYING THAT THE AMERICANS ARE BETTER AT EVERYTHING THAT THE RUSSIANS ARE ALSO GOOD AT………… ITS COMPLETE HYPERBOLE, AND SATIRE.
June 1, 2010 at 7:22 am
CAPS LOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL TO COOL
The Russians advancements in military technology ended whenever the wall came down. The American’s have been marching their jolly little way on ever since. They are much more advanced now. Suck it up, red.