China has demobilized approximately 200,000 members of its military over the past three years, according to the People’s Liberation Army daily newspaper. The report also states that China has cut its personnel from 4.24 million to 3.24 million in 1987, and in 1997 downsized the military to 2.5 million to cut costs and focus on hardware improvements and high technologies. The country remains the world’s largest military, with 2.3 million members of the army, navy, and air force, according to Agence France Presse.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
