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China's Five Deadliest Weapons of War: Land Edition
08/05/14
Kyle Mizokami
State of the Military, Military Strategy, Defense, China
Beijing isn't just focusing its defense resources on naval assets alone...
Editor’s Note: Please see previous works from our “Weapons of War” series including Five Chinese Weapons of War America Should Fear, Five American Weapons of War China Should Fear, Five Japanese Weapons of War China Should Fear, Five Best Weapons of War from the Soviet Union and Five Taiwanese Weapons of War China Should Fear.
The
Chinese People’s Liberation Army is in a period of extended change. In
the wake of the 1991 Gulf War, the PLA made the conscious decision to
shift from a manpower-intensive army to a technology-intensive army.
Since 1980, the Army has shrunk by 60 percent.
At
the same time, the Army has become more capable. New equipment has been
introduced tailored to China’s security environment. New tanks,
missiles and amphibious vehicles have entered service to make the PLA
one of the best-equipped armies in the world.
Not
that anyone would know it. Curiously, many of these new systems have
been all but invisible to the outside world. The PLA guards China’s
secure borders, and the Air Force and Navy are seen as being in the
vanguard of China’s territorial disputes, especially with Japan and the
United States.
Still,
there are situations in which Chinese land forces could be a decisive
factor. An invasion of Taiwan is one possible scenario. Action in the
Diaoyu, Paracel and Spratly islands could require ground forces. With
that in mind, here are five of the most lethal Chinese ground weapons:
ZTZ-99 Main Battle Tank
Read full articlehttp://nationalinterest.org/feature/chinas-five-most-deadly-weapons-war-land-edition-11002
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