While the world is full of regional conflicts that always seem one wrong move away from war, the real global concern is a shooting war between the United States and China. The United States might be the most dominant nation in the world, with massive financial and military strength, but it has seen its lead slip away as China catches up.
As a regional power in Asia, China’s dominance is assured, but the world’s most populous nation desires global growth. With both nations continuing to take a stance in other arenas, like Russia and Ukraine or China’s close alliance with North Korea, the United States grows increasingly concerned about China’s activities.
For this reason, we hope cooler heads continue to prevail, but if a shooting war breaks out between these two nations, Globalfirepower.com explains how it all might work. Of all the wars in which the United States could find itself, China offers the biggest threat with its numerical advantages.
30. Global Firepower Power Index
China: 0.2269 (ranked #3 in the world)
United States: 0.0699 (ranked #1 in the world)
Difference: 2 spots (in favor of the U.S.)
29. Mine Warfare Ships
China: 36 (ranked #2 in the world)
United States: 8 (ranked #15 in the world)
Difference: 28 (in favor of China)
28. Special Mission Aircraft
China: 112 (ranked #4 in the world)
United States: 695 (ranked #1 in the world)
Difference: 583 (in favor of the U.S.)
27. Dedicated Attack Aircraft
China: 371 (ranked #3 in the world)
United States: 896 (ranked #1 in the world)
Difference: 525 (in favor of the U.S.)
26. Aerial Tankers
China: 10 (ranked #7 in the world)
United States: 606 (ranked #1 in the world)
Difference: 596 (in favor of the U.S.)
25. Transport Aircraft
China: 289 (ranked #3 in the world)
United States: 957 (ranked #1 in the world)
Difference: 668 (in favor of the U.S.)
24. Towed Artillery
China: 1,434 (ranked #13 in the world)
United States: 1,267 (ranked #14 in the world)
Difference: 167 (in favor of China)
23. Self-Propelled Artillery
China: 3,850 (ranked #3 in the world)
United States: 1,595 (ranked #5 in the world)
Difference: 2 spots (in favor of China)
22. Helicopter Carriers
China: 3 (ranked #3 in the world)
United States: 9 (ranked #1 in the world)
Difference: 6 (in favor of the U.S.)
21. Corvettes
China: 75 (ranked #2 in the world)
United States: 23 (ranked #4 in the world)
Difference: 49 (in favor of China.)
20. Frigates
China: 42 (ranked #1 in the world)
United States: 0 (ranked #145 in the world)
Difference: 42 (in favor of the U.S.)
19. Patrol Vessels
China: 150 (ranked #5 in the world)
United States: 5 (ranked #56 in the world)
Difference: 145 (in favor of the U.S.)
18. Mobile Rocket Projectors
China: 3,180 (ranked #1 in the world)
United States: 694 (ranked #7 in the world)
Difference: 2,486 (in favor of China)
17. Armored Vehicles
China: 174,300 (ranked #2 in the world)
United States: 360,069 (ranked #1 in the world)
Difference: 185,769 (in favor of the U.S.)
16. Fighter Aircraft
China: 1,207 (ranked #2 in the world)
United States: 1,854 (ranked #1 in the world)
Difference: 647 (in favor of the U.S.)
15. Attack Helicopters
China: 281 (ranked #3 in the world)
United States: 1,000 (ranked #1 in the world)
Difference: 719 (in favor of the U.S.)
14. Destroyers
China: 49 (ranked #2 in the world)
United States: 75 (ranked #1 in the world)
Difference: 26 (in favor of the U.S.)
13. Submarines
China: 61 (ranked #3 in the world)
United States: 64 (ranked #2 in the world)
Difference: 3 (in favor of the U.S.)
12. Aircraft Carriers
China: 2 (ranked #2 in the world)
United States: 11 (ranked #1 in the world)
Difference: 9 (in favor of the U.S.)
11. Fleet Strength
China: 730 (ranked #1 in the world)
United States: 472 (ranked #4 in the world)
Difference: 258 (in favor of the U.S.)
10. Tank Strength
China: 5000 (ranked #4 in the world)
United States: 4,657 (ranked #5 in the world)
Difference: 343 (in favor of China)
9. Helicopters
China: 913 (ranked #3 in the world)
United States: 5,737 (ranked #1 in the world)
Difference: 4,824 (in favor of the U.S.)
8. Total Aircraft
China: 3,304 (ranked #3 in the world)
United States: 13,209 (ranked #1 in the world)
Difference: 9,905 (in favor of the U.S.)
7. Defense Budget
China: $227,000,000,000 (ranked #2 in the world)
United States: $831,781,000,000 (ranked #1 in the world)
Difference: $604,781,000,000 (in favor of the U.S.)
6. Paramilitary Forces
China: 625,000 (ranked #3 in the world)
United States: 0 (ranked #1 in the world)
Difference: 625,000 (in favor of China)
5. Reaching Military Age Annually
China: 19,784,000 (ranked #3 in the world)
United States: 4,415,647 (ranked #5 in the world)
Difference: 15,368,353 (in favor of the U.S.)
4. Fit-For-Service
China: 626,022,281 (ranked #1 in the world)
United States: 123,977,768 (ranked #3 in the world)
Difference: 502,044,513 (in favor of China)
3. Available Manpower
China: 763,097,137 (ranked #1 in the world)
United States: 149,452,652 (ranked #3 in the world)
Difference: 613,644,485 (in favor of the U.S.)
2. Reserve Military Personnel
China: 510,000 (ranked #3 in the world)
United States: 799,500 (ranked #1 in the world)
Difference: 289,500 (in favor of the U.S.)
1. Active Military Personnel
China: 2,035,000 (ranked #1 in the world)
United States: 1,328,000 (ranked #3 in the world)
Difference: 2 spots (in favor of China)
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