United States vs. China in Military Power

I hear liberals trot out the simplistic meme of "we spend more money on our military than the next 3 countries combined". I say this is simplistic because it doesn't take into account how much military power is purchased for each dollar.

The United States spends roughly $615 billion per year on our military. For that, we have 2,349,950 soldiers, 8,850 tanks, 10 aircraft carriers, 33 Amphibious Ships, 22 cruisers, 62 destroyers, 6 frigates, 72 nuclear submarines, 3,680 aircraft, 1,830 attack helicopters, 7,100 nuclear weapons, and 123 military satellites. We have 7.3 soldiers per 1000 people. Based on 2009 demographic data, the U.S. could mobilize up to 59,764,677 men and 59,437,663 women.

If we break the US numbers down, we find that we spend $261,707.70 per soldier per year. That number maintains a total of 21,665 fighting units and 123 military satellites.

What does China get for their $216.4 billion in military spending? 3,503,000 soldiers, 9,151 tanks, 1 aircraft carrier, 4 amphibious hips, 27 destroyers, 47 frigates, 27 corvettes, 9 nuclear submarines, 60 regular submarines, 2,571 military aircraft, 579 attack helicopters, 260 nuclear weapons, and 68 military satellites. China has 2.6 soldiers per 1000 people. Based on 2009 demographic data, China could mobilize 314,459,083 men and 296,763,134 women.

If we break down the Chinese military expenditure numbers, we find the they spend $61,775.62 per soldier per year. A budget that maintains 12,736 fighting units and 68 military satellites.

Let's say for a moment that China and the U.S. decided to engage in a struggle to the end. To that end, both countries fully mobilized every citizen under the age of 49 for the war effort. How much money would it cost to mobilize each country at the current funding levels for each country?

The U.S. could mobilize 119,202,000 people. If we spent the current rate of $261,707.70 per soldier, we'd end up spending $31,196,081,255,400.00 to mobilize and fight. That's 31 trillion dollars, or roughly 200% of our current GDP.

China could mobilize 611,222,217 people. If they spent their current rate of $61,775.62 per soldier, they'd end up spending $37,758,631,412,949.54. That's 37 trillion dollars, or roughly 400% of current GDP.

But look at those numbers. Even if China limited itself to 200% of GDP, they'd still be able to field almost 300% more soldiers and weapons. Even at the height of World War 2, the U.S. only spent 41 percent of GDP on the war and mobilized 16.1 million people for the war effort (roughly 12% of the population).

Let's use 12% of the population as a more rational number for mobilization.

The U.S. population is estimated to be roughly 319 million. 12 percent of 319 million is 38.28 million people. Mobilizing 38.23 million people at $261,707.70 per soldier would cost $10,018,170,756,000. That's a little over $10 trillion.

The population of China is estimated to be roughly 1.357 billion people. 12 percent of 1.357 billion is 162,840,000 people. Mobilizing 162,840,000 people would cost $10,059,541,960,800. That's a little over $10 trillion.

China could mobilize 163 million people, where the US could only mobilize around 38 million.