Q&A of the Day – How the U.S. Military Compares to Russia & China
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Social: @brianmuddradio
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Today’s entry: Brian, I love the research you provide and the objective way you present facts. Something that’s been on my mind and of concern is the growth of particularly the Chinese military we’ve been hearing about for years, but also Russia as well – though it appears the Ukrainian war has weakened their position. Heaven forbid we ever go to war with China and Russia, but as we know “peace through strength” matters. How does the size/capability of the U.S. military (and our allies) compare to China and Russia? My real fear is if we can’t maintain peace through strength due to their growth.
Bottom Line: You’ve posed an excellent next level question that provides some quantifiable ways to answer the question while still allowing for some unknowns. Specifically, the knowns include enlisted military personal and equipment while the unknowns include the classified/secret ops, technologies, etc. and specifically, China and Russia stand technologically in comparison to the US and our allies. So, let’s get to it.
I’ll start with a breakout of known military assets:
Armored Fighting Vehicles:
- United States: 45,000+
- w/NATO: 100,000+
- China: 35,000
- Russia 30,000+
Tanks and armored vehicles represent land power. Russia's tank numbers have dropped significantly due to losses in Ukraine. Beyond having the upper hand with overall vehicle numbers, it’s also widely believed that the US/NATO has a technological advantage via active protective systems.
Air Forces
- United States: 13,300
- w/NATO: 20,000
- China: 3,300
- Russia: 4,200
Not only does the U.S. maintain a 2-1 advantage over China and Russia on its own – the balance of the NATO aircraft are comparable in size as well. The US dominates fifth-generation fighters headlined by F-35s, with NATO collectively outmatching our adversaries. China is rapidly modernizing with J-20 stealth jets, while Russia's fleet has suffered losses in Ukraine.
Naval Forces (measured in total watercraft)
- United States: 484
- NATO: 1,500
- China: 730
- Russia: 598
This is where the United States is most lacking as we significantly trail both China and Russia, but also where our allies in NATO are most helpful in filling the gap, as NATO’s combined capabilities still exceed that of China and Russia. One U.S. advantage is mobility via Aircraft carriers. The U.S. has 11 while China maintains only three with Russia possessing only one.
Nuclear Capabilities
- United States: 1,770
- w/NATO: 1,770
- China: 24
- Russia: 1,674
If this part of the breakout ever came into focus may God help us all. With that said to the extent that having nukes may serve as a deterrent the United States has more than China and Russia combined (while our allies in NATO don’t have any). Once upon a time delivery systems were an advantage for the United States, however that’s no longer the case as China and Russia have delivery systems that are capable worldwide. And that takes us to the human factor...
Personnel
- United States: 2.13 million
- w/NATO: 5.84 million
- China: 2.55 million
- Russia: 3.3 million
Notably both the Chinese and Russian militaries exceed total U.S. manpower, though this is where our NATO allies are also helpful as our combined military manpower effectively matches that of China and Russia. This remains true despite Russia having suffered significant losses in Ukraine and China’s capabilities to raise a military as the most populous country in the world far exceed that of NATO’s ability to add to the ranks. This is illustrative of why it is critical to maintain technological advantages over our potential adversaries.
When you put the whole ball of wax together it looks like this:
- US/NATO advantages: Armored vehicles and Air forces and related technologies
- China/Russia advantages: Naval forces, personnel
- Neutral: Nuclear capabilities
Having the ability to produce superior air and armed ground forces has historically been a key to military superiority. That we maintain that edge is helpful. Yet the growing naval capabilities and sheer manpower that can be produced by China and Russia show that the overall advantage the US and NATO has historically maintained is narrowing. This exercise also helps illustrate why President Trump has made a “Golden Dome” defense system a priority for the United States and our territories.