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Military power of China & Iran

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China vs Iran

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China Iran

China is a country located in Eastern Asia with an area of 9,596,961 km2 (land boundries: 22,457 km and costline 14,500 km). The capital of China is Beijing. The number of inhabitants is 1,444,390,177.

The People's Liberation Army is the military arm of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, which oversees the PLA through its Central Military Commission. The PLA is outfitted primarily with a wide mix of older and modern domestically-produced systems heavily influenced by technology derived from other countries. Russia is the main supplier military equipment outside the domestic industry.

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Iran is a country located in Middle East with an area of 1,648,195 km2 (land boundries: 5,894 km and costline 2,440 km - note: Iran also borders the Caspian Sea (740 km)). The capital of Iran is Tehran. The number of inhabitants is 83,183,741.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was formed in May 1979. The IRGC was a highly institutionalized and parallel military force to Iran’s regular armed forces. The Iranian military's inventory includes a mix of domestically-produced and mostly older foreign equipment largely of Chinese, Russian, Soviet, and US origin. Iran has a defense industry with the capacity to develop, produce, support, and sustain air, land, missile, and naval weapons programs.

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If you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com

Military expenditures

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Military budget: 293 billion $ 25 billion $
Percent of GDP: 1.7% 2.5%

Military budget

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Highest value in the world: 816 billion $ (USA)
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Manpower

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Active personnel: 2,035,000 610,000
Reserve personnel: 2,000,000 350,000
Available for military: 385,821,101 23,619,215

Active

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Highest value in the world: 2,035,000 (China)
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Land Forces

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Tanks: 5,750 2,842
Armoured fighting vehicles: 14,130 3,555
Total artillery: 7,094 4,873
Self-propelled artillery: 2,720 1,030
Rocket artillery: 3,140 1,755

Tanks

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Highest value in the world: 12,267 (Russia)
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Air Forces

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Total aircraft: 4,630 973
Fighter aircraft: 1,049 112
Multirole aircraft: 1,130 75
Attack aircraft: 120 23
Helicopters: 1,355 519
UCAV (combat drone): 151 83

Total aircraft

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Highest value in the world: 12,930 (USA)
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Navy

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Total naval: 742 272
Aircraftcarriers: 4 0
Destroyers: 38 0
Frigates: 54 6
Corvettes: 73 3
Submarines: 74 19

Total naval

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Highest value in the world: 967 (North Korea)
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Nuclear weapons

China

The last of five nuclear-weapon states under the NPT, which at this moment possesses approximately 280 nuclear warheads in total. Nevertheless, the number of deployed bombs is unknown. The first test that occurred to be successful occurred in 1964. The main goal of Chinese was to build a deterrent against two major nuclear powers, namely The United States as well as The Soviet Union. The nation decided to choose dried lake for the nuclear site, Lop Nur. Although China developed and tested its first atomic device only in 1964, they managed to test their first hydrogen bomb only 32 months later. As a result, they can boast with the shortest period between developing fission and fusion technology.

China managed to conduct 45 tests of nuclear weapons. Still, the data regarding the stockpile of accumulated warheads is uncertain. The same thing concerns the number of deployed warheads. It is all due to the limited information that the country provides. We should also bear in mind that they are the only country out of five nuclear-weapon states under the NPT that does not give a positive security assurance.

Iran

Does not have nuclear weapons.

Military service

China

18-24 years of age for selective compulsory military service, with a 2-year service obligation; no minimum age for voluntary service (all officers are volunteers); 18-19 years of age for women high school graduates who meet requirements for specific military jobs; a recent military decision allows women in combat roles.

Iran

18 years of age for compulsory military service; 16 years of age for volunteers; 17 years of age for Law Enforcement Forces; 15 years of age for Basij Forces (Popular Mobilization Army); conscript military service obligation is 18 months; women exempt from military service.