China and the USA: cooperation or conflict?

4.3 Troops and missiles

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.

Table 3 Military assets, 2011

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
*Official figure; excludes some military spending
**Combat units and formations capable of manoeuvring
‡Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance
†Airborne warning and control system

Activity 6

About 10 minutes

Study Table 3, and then make some notes in the box below on the following questions.

  1. What overall picture does this convey?
  2. Are there any areas where China is in the lead? What kind of ‘threat’ might these areas of leadership pose?
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Discussion

  1. Overall, the United States maintains a considerable lead over China in most categories.
  2. The notable exception where China enjoys a lead is in the size of the armed forces where, on this 2009 estimate, China has 2.3 million active personnel compared to the United States' 1.6 million. However, such a force cannot pose much of a direct threat to the United States as the mobility of those forces is severely restricted. The ability to project force is therefore a crucial issue in estimating any perceived threat from China to US allies in the region, or the United States' ability to threaten mainland China. In direct relations between the two, the United States maintains a superior ability to inflict harm on China than China does on the United States. But in regional terms, China can project its force towards key US allies and this capability will increase if naval, air and missile power is increased.