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In October 2023, the U.S. Department of Defense released a 212-page report on China's military power.
As in previous years, this report is still a familiar formula, mainly to summarize China's security and military development by the end of the previous year, and then draw some conclusions that can be used for military spending and compilation.
What information does this report, which was summarized by two of the world's most powerful countries in military strength, really be true?
We have 500 nuclear warheads?
It is reported that the "cost" of the report reached $180,000, which shows that the US Department of Defense also put a lot of effort into writing the report.
In recent years, the U.S. Department of Defense has released such a report every year, covering China's security, military development, foreign policy, and other aspects.
In this report, the description of China's nuclear forces is naturally the most interesting.
According to the report, China's nuclear forces are now developing faster than the U.S. Department of Defense had previously anticipated.
As of May 2023, China already has more than 500 usable nuclear warheads, the report said.
In another seven years, this number will rise to more than 1,000, and some of them will be deployed at a higher level.
However, it is not a matter of a day or two for the U.S. Department of Defense to speculate that China will have more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, and the same prediction was made in the 2021 report.
To the surprise of the outside world, in the 2022 report, the US Department of Defense believes that China has only more than 400 nuclear warheads.
In this case, we have built 100 nuclear warheads in just one year, and if these figures are true, then China's ability to produce nuclear weapons has been substantially improved.
Previously, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in Sweden revealed that as of January 2023, the number of China's nuclear warheads has reached 410.
Some experts in China also believe that the figure of more than 500 pieces is obviously exaggerated and does not conform to the real situation.
In addition, the U.S. Department of Defense has also predicted that by 2035, China will have 1,500 nuclear warheads, and the current number of nuclear warheads that the United States and Russia can launch directly at any time is about this number.
Obviously, the United States is confusing the concept, because having a nuclear warhead is not the same thing as having a nuclear warhead that can be launched at any time.
At present, more than ninety percent of the world's nuclear weapons come from the United States and Russia, and the Arms Control Association, a Washington organization, once blew itself up, saying that the United States has a total of 3,700 nuclear warheads. According to data given by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in Sweden, the United States has a total of 5428 nuclear warheads.
Even if China really has four or five hundred nuclear warheads, it is only a fraction of the US nuclear warheads, which is equivalent to "seeing a small thing" compared to the US stockpile, and the United States does not need to go to such great lengths to help us publicize it.
We have 2400 fighters?
In addition to highlighting changes in China's nuclear forces through data from unknown sources, the report also highlights China's existing warplanes.
It mentions that by the end of 2022, the Chinese Air Force and Navy had at least 3,150 military aircraft of different types, of which 2,400 were combat-capable.
In addition to being very impressive in terms of quantity, it is also eye-catching in terms of quality. According to the report, after the replacement, the proportion of old fighters has dropped significantly, and as many as 1,300 fighters belong to the fourth generation of new fighters.
Although the development of China's naval and air forces started late due to various factors such as history, and many troops used old models such as the J-6 in previous years, the situation has changed greatly in recent years.
In recent years, China has been updating its fighters, and many units have been equipped with advanced models such as the J-10C and J-20.
The report predicts that in the next 10 years or so, the J-20 will still be the most powerful fighter in the world.
In order to set off the strength of the J-20, the report did not forget to step on its own F-22, saying that due to the depletion of the supply chain, the F-22 will most likely not be able to continue to improve, which means that the J-20 cannot be suppressed.
In addition, the report also focuses on the H-20, saying that the bomber is expected to have a range of 10,000 kilometers and can carry conventional ammunition and nuclear warheads.
If it can be refueled in the air, the bomber can reach most parts of the world.
It seems that judging by the report, China's air power has taken a qualitative leap.
It is undeniable that China's air power has indeed improved significantly, but in terms of the number of fighters alone, the number of Chinese fighters is less than half that of the United States.
In stealth fighters, the United States will also have a more obvious advantage. Some US media have published reports that the United States has far more stealth fighters than China.
According to US media, China is now increasing its stealth fighter production capacity, including the production of more J-31 and J-20 stealth fighters.
By 2025, China's fighter jet production will be on par with that of the United States, but it will not focus on producing more stealth jets until 2030.
Since China did not announce the specific number, the US media expect that China has 25 fifth-generation fighters, and by 2025 this figure may exceed 100.
But the United States currently has 450 fifth-generation fighters, and by 2025 the number may rise to 1,000.
From an objective point of view, the United States is now in a leading position both in terms of the number of fighters and the speed of producing fighters, so it is difficult for other countries to surpass the United States in the number of fighters.
However, the US Department of Defense has gone to great lengths to emphasize that other countries are producing fighter jets at a faster pace.
We have 370 submarines?
At the same time, the report devotes a large part of the report to the strength of the Chinese navy, which mentions that the Chinese naval fleet is the largest in the world, with at least 370 ships.
According to the report, most of these ships are modern ships, including six strategic nuclear submarines and six attack nuclear submarines, which are clearly different.
The former is mainly equipped with intercontinental ballistic missiles and is used to carry out strategic strike missions against land targets such as cities, while the latter is mainly equipped with anti-submarine torpedoes and is responsible for carrying out attack missions against mobile submarines and other sea targets.
In addition, according to the report, as the Navy ships continue to be upgraded, many ships imitating the Soviet Union will be retired from active service in the future.
However, with the addition of new and modern ships, the total number of ships in the Chinese Navy will increase by 65 by 2025.
In addition to nuclear submarines and conventional submarines, the three aircraft carriers that attract the most attention are of course.
At present, the Liaoning and Shandong ships have been put into service and have sufficient combat power, and the third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, has been launched for more than a year, and it is expected that it will enter the sea trial stage next.
Compared with the previous two aircraft carriers, the Fujian has a larger tonnage and is also equipped with the most advanced electromagnetic catapult system, which can improve the number and ability of carrier-based aircraft.
It is worth mentioning that the aircraft carrier itself is equivalent to a combat platform moving on the sea surface, and only carrier-based aircraft can have sufficient firepower, so the speed of carrier-based aircraft will directly affect the combat power of the aircraft carrier.
At present, the navy is testing the ejection system of the Fujian ship, and after successfully passing the sea trial, the Fujian ship will be officially put into service, and China will also usher in the "era of three aircraft carriers" in the true sense.
In addition to the usual carrier-based aircraft, China is testing the use of vertical take-off and landing drones on aircraft carriers, which can be used for reconnaissance, which will effectively improve maritime reconnaissance capabilities.
After analyzing China's land, sea and air capabilities, the United States has come to the most important conclusion: China has become the number one combat force in Asia.
But what is the purpose of the United States in saying this, just to prove that China's military is developing rapidly? Obviously not.
As far as the top level of the Pentagon is concerned, they really rely on China's "military" development to be able to ask for military spending and establishment, and this is the best reason for them to want military spending and establishment.
Therefore, it can be seen that the content of the "China Military Power Report" every year is basically a routine, that is, using various data from unknown sources to compare the development of China and the United States in terms of land, sea, air, and cyber.
The conclusion that China's military is developing rapidly and that the U.S. military needs more money and strength proves that these reports are completely disregarded and biased.