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Military power of Pakistan & China

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Pakistan vs China

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Pakistan China

Pakistan is a country located in Southern Asia with an area of 796,095 km2 (land boundries: 7,257 km and costline 1,046 km). The capital of Pakistan is Islamabad. The number of inhabitants is 225,199,937.

Pakistan has Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status with the USA. The Pakistan military inventory includes a broad mix of equipment, primarily from China, France, Russia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Pakistan also has a large domestic defense industry. China is the leading foreign supplier of arms to Pakistan.

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

Military expenditures

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Military budget: 10.4 billion $ 408 billion $
Percent of GDP: 4% 1.7%

Military budget

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Highest value in the world: 916 billion $ (USA)
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Manpower

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Active personnel: 654,000 2,035,000
Reserve personnel: 550,000 2,000,000
Available for military: 48,453,305 385,821,101

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: 3,742 5,750
Armoured fighting vehicles: 8,710 14,130
Total artillery: 6,308 7,094
Self-propelled artillery: 1,225 2,720
Rocket artillery: 1,738 3,140

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: 1,531 4,630
Fighter aircraft: 60 1,049
Multirole aircraft: 275 1,130
Attack aircraft: 69 120
Helicopters: 400 1,355
UCAV (combat drone): 113 151

Total aircraft

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Highest value in the world: 13,175 (USA)
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Navy

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Total naval: 96 742
Aircraftcarriers: 0 4
Destroyers: 0 38
Frigates: 8 54
Corvettes: 0 73
Submarines: 6 74

Total naval

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

Pakistan

Pakistan is one of several nations that are not the part of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Yet, the Pakistani government managed to acquire nuclear warheads, or at least it is believed so. The entire pursuit for nuclear power began at the beginning of 1970s. It was back then, when Western Powers heard about Pakistan efforts of developing nuclear weapons. At the beginning the government established first nuclear power plant. It was located near Karachi. Noteworthy is the fact that it was possible due to the help of Western nations, which provided Pakistan with necessary equipment and materials. Later on, the president of Pakistan said that the main goal of Pakistan is to construct nuclear weapons. It was a response to India’s claim that they are capable of building nuclear weapons.

Although throughout the 1970s and at the beginning of 1980s there were little facts regarding Pakistan’ nuclear capabilities, there were rumours that from the mid-1980s, Pakistan already had a few warheads. However, it was only in 1998 that Pakistan decided to conduct their first nuclear tests. There were 6 tests and they were the response to 5 tests that India conducted several weeks before Pakistan.

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.

Military service

Pakistan

16-23 years of age for voluntary military service; soldiers cannot be deployed for combat until age 18; the Pakistani Air Force and Pakistani Navy have inducted their first female pilots and sailors; the Pakistan Air Force recruits aviation technicians at age 15; service obligation (Navy) 10-18 years; retirement required after 18-30 years service or age 40-52.

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.