[News] After raising his military budget, he learned about the capabilities of the Chinese army and its combat units

[SnO]

Today, Sunday, the Chinese government decided to increase the financial allocations for the Chinese army by 7.2% in 2023; Which will allow him to continue updating it.

Beijing plans to spend 1 trillion and 553 billion yuan ($224 billion) on its defense, 3 times less than the US defense budget.

The Chinese leadership faces several challenges on various fronts. From the Taiwan island file, to the US naval and air military presence near the disputed areas between China and a number of its neighbors in the South China Sea.

 

 

 

The (Chinese) People's Liberation Army - the largest in the world in terms of numbers and the second in terms of budget - asserts that it is purely "defensive", but also aims to assert the ambition of China's sovereignty in the face of its neighbors, and to train for a supposed invasion of Taiwan.

Since the 1980s, China, thanks to a significant rise in GDP over the years, has gradually financed the modernization of its military.

The following is the most important information about the capabilities of the Chinese army:

Soldier numbers
Soldier numbers have been cut sharply over the past decade, as part of a drive to modernize, professionalize and improve spending.

The People's Liberation Army now has two million and 35 thousand men and women in its ranks, according to the British Research Center and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

This number is distributed particularly between the ground forces (965 thousand), the air forces (395 thousand), the navy (260 thousand), and the unit responsible for strategic missiles as well (120 thousand).

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on the military to complete its modernization by 2035 and become "world-class" by 2050.

Nuclear warheads
China has about 350 nuclear warheads, according to 2022 figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

This number is much less than what the United States has (5428) or Russia (5977), but it is more than the United Kingdom (225) and France (290), according to the same previous source.

However, the US Department of Defense accused Beijing last November of wanting to increase its nuclear arsenal to 1,500 warheads by 2035.

Unlike the United States, China pledges not to first use nuclear weapons unless they are targeted.

aircraft carriers
China has 3 aircraft carriers, only two of which are currently in operation and the third is in the testing phase at sea.

However, the operations of taking off and landing aircraft on these ships are complex and require the training of many pilots, which is a very lengthy procedure.

On the other hand, the United States has - according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies - 11 aircraft carriers.

rules abroad
China has only one overseas military base (in Djibouti) and says it is mainly for anti-piracy operations in the region. The United States has hundreds of them all over the world.

China's military presence abroad is limited, with the exception of United Nations peacekeeping missions.

air forces
The Chinese Air Force is developing rapidly, bolstered by new fighters such as the J-16 and J-20 stealth fighters, aircraft that have "probably doubled" their annual production rate over the past three years, according to the report. International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The Pentagon estimated in its report that China is "quickly catching up with the ranks of Western air forces."

Navy
China is sometimes presented as the world's first naval power in terms of number of ships, ahead of the United States.

But China's fleet relies mostly on smaller ship classes, and is far from the American might.

 

 

https://www.aljazeera.net/news/2023/3/5/الصين-15