China's Military Power Nears "Parity" With the West, Report Says

[beijingwalker]

China's Military Power Nears "Parity" With the West, Report Says
Decades of double-digit defense increases pay off.

By Kyle Mizokami
Feb 16, 2017

Chinese military power is reaching a state of "near-parity" with the West. That's the verdict of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think tank that tracks military spending and trends worldwide.

The 2017 IISS report on worldwide defense trends claims Chinese air power '"appears to be reaching near-parity with the West," adding that Chinese-made drones had been seen in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. According to Deutsches Welle, IISS Director John Chapman says Western military dominance "can no longer be taken for granted".


During the 20th century, China was known as a middle-rank military power. Despite a population that would eventually exceed a billion people, China lacked the economy and technology to create a modern military. The country relied upon a combination of low-tech military forces and nuclear weapons for defense.

Over the last three decades, the meteoric rise of China's economy has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty. It has also provided for massive defense budget increases since 1990, resulting in a more than tenfold increase in defense spending. A Western arms embargo imposed after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre of Chinese pro-democracy students forced China to undertake its own weapons development, often with the help of technology stolen from the West and countries such as Israel and Russia.

According to the IISS, China spends approximately $145 billion on defense, although the true number is a closely held secret and almost certainly exceeds 200 billion. China's defense spending as a percentage of GDP is probably around 2 percent—the amount NATO recommends its members spend on their armed forces.

By comparison, the U.S. now spends $604.5 billion on defense, and Russia spends just $58.9 billion.

Despite all these advances, it's important to keep in mind there are many things China can't do well, or places where it suffers shortages. China has tried to develop a high-performance engine for its fifth-generation fighter jets, but so far has failed. It has just one aircraft carrier to the 11 carriers of the U.S. Navy, and it is seriously deficient in airborne early warning aircraft and tankers. The People's Liberation Army Air Force was for a time actually growing smaller, as the number of fighter and attack planes being retired was greater than the number of planes being purchased.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a25261/china-west-military-power/

 

[jkroo]

No one will respond you for the 'parity'. It's just too awesome to be accepted. Lol.

 

[ChineseToTheBone]

I have a question. Am I allowed to post the full analysis from IISS of China (as well as Pakistan and India) here in the comments or will it be forbidden since it was paid content?

 

[Pepsi Cola]

To be fair the direct quote from IISS says "appears to be reaching near-parity with the West."

 

[Foxtrot Delta]

China's military is approaching 'near parity' with the West

• Paul Szoldr

• Feb. 17, 2017, 3:21 PM
• 11,695
• 
  
• according to a new report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
  
  In its 2017 Military Balance report, which focuses on global military capabilities and defense spending, IISS experts say that China has made significant progress in research and development and improved its military capabilities, putting it close to on par with the US and other allies.
  
  "Western military technological superiority, once taken for granted, is increasingly challenged," Dr. John Chipman, Director-General and Chief Executive of IISS, said in a statement. "We now judge that in some capability areas, particularly in the air domain, China appears to be reaching near-parity with the West."
  
  Instead of its usual practice of working on systems that imitate Soviet and Russian technology, China has shifted its efforts (and budget) to domestic research and development. Its Navy is currently working on three new advanced cruisers, 13 destroyers, and outfitting other ships with better radar.
  
  But China's efforts on new aircraft have been the most effective.
  
  
  
  The J-20 Chinese Military Review
  
  China has its own stealthy J-20 and J-31 fighters, helped in part by stolen technical details of the F-22 and F-35, though it still seems to lack many of the capabilities of its US counterparts. But Beijing has made up for that in the development of a long-range air-to-air missile that has no western equivalent.
  
  "Seen on exercise last year and estimated at near-six meters in length, this developmental missile likely has the task of engaging large high-value and non-maneuvering targets," Chapman said. "With a lofted trajectory, an engagement range around 300 kilometers would appear feasible."
  
  That long range makes that kind of missile particularly deadly to aircraft that supports short range fighters, such as aerial tankers and AWACS, which provide an airborne radar platform.
  
  Interestingly, the report notes, China's progress is "now the single most important driver for US defense developments."