Acquisitions of new weapons and equipment will likely take up the bulk of China's latest defense budget, reports the Beijing-based Sina Military Network.
On Wednesday, State Council spokesperson Fu Ying announced that China will increase its defense budget by around 10% this year to 889 billion yuan (US$142 billion), the lowest increase in expenditure over the last five years. As a big country, China needs an army that can safeguard its national security and people, Fu said.
"To tell the truth, there is still a gap between China's armed forces [and foreign counterparts] in terms of overall military equipment. We still need more time," Fu said, adding that capital support is needed for the modernization of China's national defense and its army.
"Lagging behind leaves one vulnerable to attacks. That is a lesson we have learned from history," she said, claiming that China's defense policy is defensive in nature.
Last year's defense budget increased by 12.2% to 808.2 billion yuan (US$129 billion). Taking inflation into account, this year's increase is therefore not significant, Sina Military said.
In the US, President Obama's recent fiscal 2016 budget proposal, military expenditure was pegged at US$585 billion, an increase of US$24.7 billion from the 2015 fisical year and more than four times overall that of China's. In Russia's fiscal 2016 budget, defense expenditure was estimated at US$93.9 billion, equal to about 66% of China's and a US$10.2 billion rise from the previous year.
Sina Military estimates that a large portion of China's defense budget will be applied to the salaries and living expenses of the 23 million soldiers and officers in the People's Liberation Army, especially as pay levels have been bumped up this year.
The most interesting aspect of the budget, however, is how much money will be applied to the procurement of new weapons and equipment. While there are currently no reliable reports available on what military equipment China intends to add, Sina Military says it is possible to provide an educated guess estimated from the prices of Chinese weapons exports.
In recent years, China discussed exporting 32 HQ-9/FD-2000 medium- to long-range, active radar homing surface-to-air missiles and eight launch vehicles to Turkey for US$300 million. The MBT 3000/VT4 third-generation main battle tank, on the other hand, is reportedly being exported for around US$4 million per tank.
China's FC-1 Xiaolong (or JF-17 Thunder) multirole fighter jet is said to cost about US$30 million, while in 2002, the modern Type 956E Sovremenny-class destroyer was sold for about US$500 million. There are also reports that the Type 636M Kilo-class submarine is selling for US$200 million and that the Zubr-class air-cushioned landing craft costs about US$85 million.
In terms of identifable annual expenditures, the PLA Air Force and Navy are said to provide facelifts to around 50 or so J-10 and J-11 fighter jets and around 20-30 bombers and large aircraft. Each year, the PLA Navy can also add around one or two Type 052C/DD destroyers, two to three Type 54A frigates and three to four Type 056 corvettes, as well as an unspecified number of conventional and nuclear submarines. This does not take into account the costs of other auxillary ships.
Operating aircraft and ships can also be expensive. The cost of a single flight for a J-10 fighter is around 300,000 yuan (US$48,000), which is lower than that of the heavier J-11. The PLA Navy's costs of deploying a ship is difficult to gauge, though the increasing number of maritime drills and joint exercises means the expenses will be astronomical, Sina Military said.
