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Military power of China & USA

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China vs USA

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China USA

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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USA is a country located in North America with an area of 9,857,306 km2 (land boundries: 12,002 km and costline 19,924 km). The capital of USA is Washington. The number of inhabitants is 331,449,281.

The United States is a member of NATO and was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. The US military's inventory is comprised almost entirely of domestically-produced weapons systems defense industry is capable of designing, developing, maintaining, and producing the full spectrum of weapons systems. The United States is the world's leading arms exporter.

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If you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out China - USA

Military expenditures

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Military budget: 293 billion $ 816 billion $
Percent of GDP: 1.7% 3.3%

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 1,358,500
Reserve personnel: 2,000,000 799,500
Available for military: 385,821,101 73,270,043

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 6,612
Armoured fighting vehicles: 14,130 41,237
Total artillery: 7,094 4,243
Self-propelled artillery: 2,720 1,498
Rocket artillery: 3,140 1,366

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 12,930
Fighter aircraft: 1,049 461
Multirole aircraft: 1,130 2,417
Attack aircraft: 120 566
Helicopters: 1,355 4,741
UCAV (combat drone): 151 334

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: 742 460
Aircraftcarriers: 4 20
Destroyers: 38 94
Frigates: 54 0
Corvettes: 73 22
Submarines: 74 69

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.

USA

The first country to develop and to military use nuclear warheads in the world. Everything started from the Manhattan project, a research that had one particular goal in focus – to develop and produce the first nuclear weapon. Americans were the first to wield such powerful weapon. Everything started in 1941, which is date of the beginning of Manhattan project. Since the end of the Second World War, United States became the leading country when it comes to possessing nuclear warheads and it lasted approximately to 1980s. We should also bear in mind that United States are also the only nation that ever used nuclear weapon in military conflict.

In 1960, the amount of warheads stored by Americans exceeded 30,000. However, it is worth to note that throughout the entire period of the so-called Cold War, USA managed to build approximately 70,000 nuclear warheads, what is more than all other countries with access to nuclear weapons combined. From the first test that happened in 1945 to this day, the USA conducted 1054 tests of atomic bombs. Still, as a result of introduced restrictions on the amount of warheads one state can possess, the current number has dropped to 6500 warheads. Noteworthy is also the fact that out of this number, United States deployed only 1600.

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.

USA

18 years of age (17 years of age with parental consent) for male and female voluntary service; no conscription; maximum enlistment age 42 (Army), 27 (Air Force), 34 (Navy), 28 (Marines); service obligation 8 years, including 2-5 years active duty (Army), 2 years active (Navy), 4 years active (Air Force, Marines); DoD is eliminating prohibitions restricting women from assignments in units smaller than brigades or near combat units.