Although overall military spending is one way of measuring military capabilities, the composition of the armed forces is also important. Table 3 below is an estimation of the relative military capabilities of China and the United States.
China | US | |
Defence budget 2010-11, $bn | 89.8 | 739.3 |
Share of GDP, % | 1.3* | 4.9 |
Active personnel, m | 2.3 | 1.6 |
Strategic and long-range assets | ||
Intercontinental ballistic missile launchers | 66 | 450 |
Bombers | 132 | 155 |
Nuclear-powered submarines w/ ballistic missiles | 3 | 14 |
Manoeuvre** | ||
Modern main battle tanks | 2800 | 6302 |
Armoured infantry fighting vehicles | 2390 | 6452 |
4th generation tactical aircraft | 747 | 3092 |
Attack helicopters | 16 | 862 |
Heavy/medium transport helicopters | 294 | 2809 |
Power projection | ||
Cruiser/destroyers | 13 | 83 |
Aircraft carriers | 0 | 11 |
Frigates | 65 | 28 |
Nuclear-powered submarines | 5 | 57 |
Principal amphibious ships | 1 | 29 |
Heavy/medium transport aircraft | 57 | 847 |
Tanker aircraft | 13 | 550 |
ISTAR‡ | ||
AWACS† | 14 | 104 |
Heavy unmanned aerial vehicles | n/a | 370 |
Imagery satellites | 15 | 10 |
Intelligence satellites | 11 | 20 |
Navigational satellites | 10 | 31 |
About 10 minutes
Study Table 3, and then make some notes in the box below on the following questions.
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