Where are you getting that from? the PRC has been on a modernization campaign the last 20 years. Most of its navy is newer than ours. It has 5th generation fighter air craft and is a leader in AI including in military use. It would be very dangerous underestimating the PRC military. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/15/china-military-00039786
Im going to underestimate the hell out of them and there's not much you can do about it. PRCs last war was losing one to Vietnam in the 80's. Fancy weapons are nice but there's more to it. Not impressed. 4/10 superpower military
Those are their words, but look at their equipment - not so much. Their navy is a joke, they have 1 aircraft carrier we have 20....outside of their missile subs, they are nothing as far as the Navy goes. DD
Chinese have very good anti-aircraft capabilities built into their fleet of destroyers. In a small area like around Taiwan, they could saturate the area with radars and AA missiles. They also have a lot of top notch anti-ship (anti-carrier) missiles that would be very difficult to stop when launched en masse. If I were the US, I'd be wary of bringing my carriers into range of Chinese anti-ship supersonic cruise missiles. Unfortunately, that would mean that the carriers wouldn't get close enough to launch planes. Obviously they don't have a ton of experience, but that doesn't mean they'd all half-ass it like Russians in Ukraine. Chinese soldiers are inculcated with the idea that Taiwan belongs to them and they must get it back at all cost. Most Russians don't really give two f**ks about Ukraine.
This. The Chinese military has been focused on beating back a US attack and invading a nearby island country. How well they actually perform during an actual war is a different story but I would imagine they could cause many losses to the US if we defended Taiwan.
Force protection and homeland defense are two opposite things. China has been homeland protection intensive ever since New China. If you look at the Falklands War, the exocet missile wrecked shop and fighters were important but experience and submarines were very important.
My fandom of communism is what allowed me to beat @Ottomaton to get the news out about Gorbachev’s death out.
Yes no one knows how the current PLA wil actually perform in an actual war but it is a fact they have been modernizing. They aren’t just using Soviet era knockoffs but have things like stealth fighters and air superiority fighters as the link I posted mentioned.
U figured with all the money being used on the military every year, something is being done or address instead of all this posturing. Seems like a waste of money to me. Plenty of things to improve in our nation
They have three aircraft carriers with the launching of one this past June. The PLA Navy was once considered a joke but they’ve done a lot to build a blue water navy to not just be defensive but project power . This article has a good breakdown: https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/25/asia/china-navy-aircraft-carrier-analysis-intl-hnk-ml-dst/index.html
I have my doubts about how well most PLA soldiers will fight. PRC propaganda is that the Chinese people is willing to suffer more hardship than opponents like the US. I’m not so sure about that. With more than 40 years of growth there is a generation that has grown up with full bellies and playing video games . Im not so sure they would be willing to sacrifice that even for Taiwan. I still standby that it would be a mistake to underestimate their military as old and second rate. In war games it looks like while they can’t defeat the US in a matchup over Taiwan they could inflict a lot of damage.
the key question is does the PRC have territorial aspirations beyond Taiwan. certainly, they'd like to have defect control over the rest of SEAsia, but they can achieve that by controlling the South China Sea. So in terms of war fighting capability, the question both the US and China should be asking themselves, is what is required to prevent/achieve control of Taiwan and the SCS. Aircraft carriers are mandatory for the US. They're a luxury for China, unless they're meant to attach the US carrier force outside the immediate theater.
Russia has an old school war mentality. Roll tank troops in in easy to hit columns with some random bombing thrown in. And look at their tanks. They knew the T-72s had major design flaws and yet kept making them because they really don't care about the casualties of war on either side. They just think the number advantage will play out in the end. If Russia had modern weapons with a modern day war plan when they 1st invaded Ukraine, the war would have been over in a couple of weeks - long before we sent assistance. Putin has "fired" many generals because of their ineptness.
The CNN article addresses this. Aircraft carriers are big prestige pieces. They’re not useless but as you note not the most important thing for the immediate ambitions of the PRC. The article noted that they’ve also developed stealth attack cruisers and also a large maritime merchant marine thar could be converted to military usage.