The Chinese People’s Liberation Army remains the largest armed force the world has ever seen, numbering over three and a half million in times of war, and readily expanded further still. In the past, the PLA has always lacked the technological edge of the Western powers, relying on the knowledge that it would take a determined nuclear attack to wipe out its army, with a promise of reprisal in kind. However, recent economic developments within China have allowed it to leap ahead with its own designs, effectively permitting it to skip a whole generation of equipment to produce hardware that is very close to Western standards in capability. Though even China is unable to provide this equipment as standard across the entire PLA, it nonetheless has access to virtually unlimited manpower, combined with cutting edge technology in precisely the right areas.