Originally Posted by Killjoy

Considering the state of the Russian military, combined with the fact that former warsaw pact nations like Poland and the Czech Republic (who are upgrading to western weaponry and equipment) are now members of NATO, I think Putin would have his ass handed to him if he tried the "aggression" track of the old soviet bear. Then again, there's always France.

Originally Posted by Killjoy

I wouldn't worry too much about China, at this point anyways. They are a "Regional Superpower" with significant military capability available only in their region of the world. They lack power projection capability; their Navy (named, no joke, The People's Liberation Army-Navy) is distinctly third class, their Air Force is severely technologically inferior to nearly all their neighbors (Japan with F-15s, E2C's FSX's, Korea with F-16's, Taiwan with F-16s, etc.), and their Army filled to the gills with poorly trained conscripts. They possess only 24 ICBM's (crappy copies of old 60's era liquid-fueled Russian rockets), and 2 ballistic missile submarines, so noisy the US Navy laughingly refers to them "Helen Kellers".

Still, as Stalin once said, "Quantity has a quality all its own", and their military is fairly large. They also possess a significant number of tactical nukes, deliverable by aircraft or artillery. They possess large numbers of tanks, artillery and APC's. But beyond the range their Army could literally walk to, the Chinese could do very little to influence world events. Mechanized armies depend on their supply lines, and the Chinese could not sustain a sea-line (to invade neighboring islands, like Taiwan), or an air-lane (to invade countries protected by mountainous terrain, like India), nor could they sustain any long land-lines (which could be torn to shreds by more air capable nations).

The Chinese military has taken steps to upgrade their equipment to modern first-world standards, like their new infantry rifle the QBZ-95/97 in a new caliber 5.8 X 42mm. They have also begun to vigorously train selected Army units to bring them up to higher standards, and get away from the "conscript mass attack" style of warfare. This, in itself, is ominous, as it is a change from the traditionally insular Chinese view of military tactics. But these changes take time, and it will probably be another 10-12 years before they can make any significant change to their Army's systems.

Originally Posted by Duff112

Killjoy - What you work for Jane's in your spare time..

Originally Posted by Killjoy

I fail to see how planting a flag on the bottom of the ocean would somehow grant you sovereignty over the region. Putting a flag in the moon doesn't mean the moon is ours.