What do you think of China's military?

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 21:57:05 -0500

Is it all for show?
Despite all of the posturing that the Chinese Government is doing, it knows that it cannot take us. With that in mind, what do you think of China's capabilities to fight us if it they deem it necessary?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGs_dcXt-3k

10 Signs China's Military Is Weaker Than You Think | China Uncensored

Sure China has the largest standing army in the world, with 2.3 million people, a military budget of 120 billion dollars, and experimental spider tanks. But ...

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Nov 29 at 2015 10:19 PM

SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 22:19:01 -0500

CPT Private RallyPoint Member I think China just have manpower advantage with force on force warfare.

Response by COL Jon Thompson made Nov 29 at 2015 10:19 PM

COL Jon Thompson — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 22:19:59 -0500

I think we cannot underestimate them. When we did that before, we lost a lot of men in Korea. There is something to be said for numbers. What it would ultimately come down to is what kind of war. We have seen what happened in Iraq after "major combat" was over. Could we ever dominate a nation with over a billion people? I doubt it. Could they defeat us in the air and sea? I doubt that.

Response by CSM Carl Cunningham made Nov 29 at 2015 10:20 PM

CSM Carl Cunningham — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 22:20:44 -0500

I would not call them weak. I would call them patient. I think they fight us through other means. I think they are working to make our economy weaker so we would not be able to sustain a fight against them....in the long run of course. They supply other countries (North Korea, various in Africa) with enough to keep instability in regions around the world. Despite everything else I said, the most dangerous capability in war is their cyber capability. That is probably the biggest worry we should have with them. Just a guess though.

Response by PFC James Franklin made Nov 30 at 2015 12:46 AM

PFC James Franklin — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 00:46:01 -0500

The thing we have to keep in mind with China is that the only countries in that region with equal equipment are Russia, Japan, and South Korea. Russia is tied up elsewhere (Ukraine, Syria), while the latter two's manpower is made up primarily by US Forces. Given that we've never trained with the PLA, or seen them use their military after Korea, it's impossible to gauge the level of their training. In all, I think they shouldn't be taken lightly and could become a major threat, if they haven't already.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 30 at 2015 3:59 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 03:59:25 -0500

The problem is force projection. We're pretty good at it, and they're not. The only way I see that China could force us into a ground fight of their choosing is if they went to war with South Korea on behalf of North Korea.

And they're simply not stupid enough to do that to their most valuable trading partner in the short term. As India's middle class expands, they may find a closer and more lucrative relationship with India, but for awhile yet, we're their best customer.

Their Army is pretty good, but they have a few problems that they'll need to work out:
1) Force projection: How can they get that big Army anywhere they need to go?
2) Fleet support: This is about the only way they can project force outside their borders, and their fleet is smaller than ours by a huge margin. Less technologically advanced (though the gap is narrowing), and with a naval tradition that hasn't really matured yet.
3) Institutional experience: How many of us shut up and listen when a guy with a combat patch passes on his knowledge? Most do, if they're smart. Then again, most of us, by now, have one of those, and so we have a huge body of actual experience with which to educate new soldiers. China does not. Training is good, hard training is better, and experience is best.
4) Long view: People talk about China's long view, as if they possess a sort of clairvoyance that we lack. What they fail to realize is that to take the long view, you have to make assumptions and assessments. If your assumptions are wrong, then your plan goes to hell. I doubt China's long view planned for the Shanghai market to fall in the toilet.

Still, they're a powerful enemy, and a war with them would be exceptionally awful.

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 30 at 2015 10:14 AM

PO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 10:14:34 -0500

Yes, I believe they are weaker ... but that doesn't mean a 9mm can't kill a person with with 45. :)

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Nov 30 at 2015 8:54 PM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 20:54:14 -0500

They have money and they are spending it for Military Upgrades of that I am sure. I am impressed with their Cyber Warfare Capabilities. As far as the Rest. Mostly Smoke and Mirrors? Hard to say.

Response by SN Greg Wright made Dec 1 at 2015 5:18 AM

SN Greg Wright — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 05:18:08 -0500

CPT Private RallyPoint Member I think that China stops being an effective military power within a week or two of the beginning of open engagements. I think they know it, too.