The US and Russia, China, and India, two separate
long-term rivalries and two flashpoints for global war. But what if China and Russia decided to set
aside their differences and join against an Indian-American alliance? Who would win, and how would that war play
out? The rules of this wargame are as usual, no
use of nuclear weapons allowed and no other allies can be called upon. First let's take a look at each contestant's
military might and see what capabilities each would bring to the table. First up is India, the world's fourth most
powerful military. With an active-duty force of 1.4 million and
a reservist force of 2.8 million, India can call upon a deep pool of manpower to prosecute
any war. India also possesses a formidable air force,
with 590 fighter aircraft, 804 attack aircraft, and a huge fleet of surveillance and transport
helicopters that numbers at 720. India however suffers from a lack of attack
helicopters, with only 15 in its inventory; this may prove to be a crippling deficiency
in any attempt to combat a Chinese/Russian incursion over its mountainous northern and
eastern borders. India does however maintain a force of 4,400
combat tanks, of which about half are modern or semi-modern T-90s, and the indigenous Arjun
main battle tank. India is also equipped with a staggering number
of towed artillery, 4,100 pieces meant to make it impossible for their Chinese rivals
to penetrate Indian defenses across the mountain gaps of its north-eastern border. Its naval forces include one aircraft carrier,
14 frigates, 11 destroyers, 22 corvettes, and 16 submarines, a sizable collection of
naval hardware that its immediate threat- China- would be hard-pressed to defeat. Next up is China. China is the most populous nation on earth
and maintains an active-duty force of 2.2 million, with a reservist force of 510,000. With an air force totaling 1,125 Fighter aircraft,
1,527 attack aircraft, and 281 attack helicopters, China has a serious advantage in the air over
India; yet China's pilots are undertrained compared to their Western counterparts, and
forced to fly under strict supervision from ground controllers, a huge liability in fast-paced
modern air combat. China also has a force of 7,700 tanks, and
6,246 towed artillery backed up by 2,000 self-propelled artillery, mostly ballistic missile launchers
which would pose a significant threat to Indian and American forces. On the sea, China maintains a significant
force, with 1 test aircraft carrier not rated for combat operations, 50 light frigates,
29 destroyers, 39 corvettes, and 73 submarines. While larger in number than Indian naval forces,
China lacks the ability to maintain long-term logistical support for any deployed ships,
meaning only a small number of them could operate far from China's shores for longer
than a few weeks. Underpinning China's military might is also
the fact that its military is severely affected by systemic corruption, so much so that China's
own leadership doubts the ability of the Chinese military to fight and win a major war against
a near-peer power such as India. On to Russia. Russia has the world's second most powerful
military, with an active-duty force of just over 1 million personnel and a reserve force
of 2.5 million. With 818 fighter aircraft and 1,416 attack
aircraft, Russia's air forces are formidable, but would be severely hampered in war by a
lack of reconnaissance assets; as one Russian military analyst put it: “We have long-range,
sometimes precision guided weapons, but we don't always know where the target is.”. On the ground though, Russia maintains the
world's largest tank fleet, numbering over 20,000, however this figure should be taken
with a grain of salt as the number includes many thousands of Soviet-era tanks that have
long been decommissioned and would need weeks to bring into service, and even once operational,
would be decades behind in capability, firepower, and protection versus modern tanks. Russia's naval fleet has severely atrophied
since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but it still maintains one aircraft carrier, 9
frigates, 13 destroyers, 78 corvettes, and 62 submarines. Though Russian vessels are on the whole aging
and plagued by maintenance issues, they are still armed with very modern and capable long-range
missiles, making them a force to be feared. And finally, the world's chief military power-
the United States of America. The US enters the conflict on India's side,
with an active-duty force of 1.3 million personnel and 800,000 reserve personnel. With 1,962 fighter aircraft and 2,830 multirole
aircraft, the US has almost double the air power of Russia or China; its naval aviation
forces alone are on par with either nation. Its fleet of 973 attack helicopters ensure
that ground offensives are well covered, and it is rare that an American infantryman finds
himself without fire support. A proponent of blitzkrieg warfare, America
also maintains a fleet of 5,900 tanks- almost all of them modern Abrams variants- and 39,000
armored fighting vehicles, giving its ground forces unparalleled mobility. While lagging behind in numbers, America's
950 self-propelled, 795 towed, and 1,200 rocket artillery platforms often feature smart, precision
guided munitions. In fact, of all the militaries in the world,
the United States uses the most precision guided munitions, featuring them on almost
every combat platform, and giving US forces incredible lethality. At the onset of war, Chinese and Indian border
forces stationed across the length of the Himalayas would come into immediate conflict. While initial predisposition of forces favors
the Indian army, the narrow roads and valleys of the mighty Himalayas would make anything
but meager gains all but impossible. Artillery would devastate any sizable forces
trying to move through mountain gaps, leaving most of the combat action to light infantry
units supported by helicopters. With Chinese forces primarily stationed along
its eastern coast, India would initially have the upper hand both in the air and on the
ground. Only a few air bases on the Tibetan plateau
could support combat operations for the Chinese, while dozens of airfields on India's side
could all put Indian planes within combat range of the front lines. It would take weeks for China to construct
makeshift air fields and air bases, and then rebase the bulk of its air fleet to the Tibetan
plateau, during which time, despite more advanced Chinese aircraft, Indian forces would enjoy
a degree of air superiority. Yet the mountainous terrain would make it
difficult for India to exploit that air superiority, and it would be forced to try to use ground
attack planes when it would be far more efficient to use attack helicopters, of which India,
again, only has 15. Once China relocated its mobile ballistic
missile launchers to its western military regions however, India would face a withering
barrage of ballistic missiles that it could do absolutely nothing to protect itself from. Airfields and military command and control
nodes across northern and eastern India would be devastated, and India's air force would
suddenly find it very difficult to maintain hard-won air superiority, giving China the
time needed to rebase its own air forces. Yet this is where China would have to make
a very difficult choice: if it moves its forces to counter the Indian threat, it will leave
the Pacific front completely vulnerable to American attack. Caught between the literal rock of the Himalayas
swarming with Indian infantry, and the hard choice of leaving itself vulnerable to coastal
raids by the American navy, China may look to its Russian allies for a solution. Russia would need to carefully consider the
strategic situation. It's Chinese allies desperately depend on
the Pacific ocean for trade, importing most of their oil via sea trade routes and with
domestic reserves not yet ready to support long-term war. With the majority of China's trade and oil
passing through the Indian Ocean, the Indian navy is as one analyst put it: “poised on
China's jugular”, and could easily cripple China with a naval blockade of Chinese shipping. America's Pacific forces are, on their own,
also more than sufficient to cripple the Chinese economy with a trade blockade, and China's
navy could not hope to counter America on its own. Desperately needing to ensure the oil lifeline
stays open for its ally, Russia would likely try to bolster its Pacific fleet with large
elements of its Northern fleet; yet, depending on the time of year, the arctic ice may not
have melted enough to open up shipping lanes. Either way, whatever naval forces Russia could
muster on the Pacific would be needed to aid the Chinese in fending off the American navy. This would still not be enough to save the
Chinese economy however, as India's navy would never have to leave home to stop all Chinese
shipping in the Indian Ocean. With a very limited capability to support
its own navy far from its shores, China could at best scrounge together a small battle group
of destroyers and cruisers with perhaps a few nuclear submarines to try and break the
Indian blockade; yet with India operating so close to home shores, it could take advantage
of shore-based air power and make quick work of any Chinese task force. In the end, China could not hope to stand
against naval blockades by both the US and India, even with reinforcements from the Russian
navy. This is China's glaring Achille's heel: its
almost complete reliance on the sea for trade and oil, and why China has been ambitiously
undergoing its modern 'silk road' infrastructure development program with friendly nations...
with very mixed success. Caught between the threat of raids on its
Pacific coast by the US Navy, and Indian forces pushing through the Himalayas, China would
likely choose not to deploy its ballistic missiles to the West, as even if India managed
to break out of the Himalayas, China's western territory is largely of little economic value. It would be far more prudent for China to
try to keep America's carrier groups at bay with its DF-21 ballistic missiles, though
China has still, to date, failed to show it has the capability to follow through on the
threat of its ballistic missile forces by displaying a mastery of the the various tracking,
recon, and targeting systems and assets needed to go from launch to successful kill, or the
ability to properly defend them from US attack. At best, the Sino-Russian alliance could hope
to hold India at bay in the Himalayas, and could likely even push India back, once Chinese
and Russian personnel created enough forward air bases on the Tibetan Plateau to support
offensive operations. Yet Chinese and Russian forces would be limited
to advancing only as far as the Indian foothills on the western edges of the Himalayas; the
narrow passes and undeveloped roads through those passes would not make it possible to
transport large amounts of hardware into India itself, while India could hold vast amounts
of tanks and artillery on its plains ready to crush any advance into Indian territory. In short, it would be guaranteed suicide to
try to break out of the Himalayas for both the Chinese and Russian forces. Meanwhile, India and the US could starve China
into submission by devastating its economy through naval blockades. It would take weeks for the US to degrade
Russia's and China's naval and air forces enough to attempt an amphibious assault against
either nation, but the high casualties would make it a very unappealing proposition. Instead the US could comfortably sit back
and bottle the Russian fleet up while systematically destroying the Chinese fleet- leaving their
Indian allies to continue denying China's desperately needed oil imports. A US/India and Russia/China war would end
with very little territory gained or lost on either side, and with staggering amounts
of casualties for Indian and Chinese forces. The US navy would likely see significant casualties,
but both Russia's and China's navies would be all but completely destroyed. China and India's economies would be devastated,
but China's specifically could face a catastrophic collapse that could even lead to the end of
its Communist Party's rule. With so much to lose and practically nothing
to gain, neither side would ever seriously consider such a war, but if they did, China's
inability to protect its sea trade routes would make one side the clear victor. So, do you foresee a different outcome in
this hypothetical matchup? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! Also, be sure to check out our other video
called The 10 Weakest Armies in Asia in 2018! Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t
forget to like, share, and subscribe. See you next time!
US alone will beat all 3 i guess...Impact on China/India/Russia is too big because of population...Any way this is like WW3 and whole world will collapse...
Europe and Japan would win
US and India on the same team? Lol wut? At best India is a strategic partner (not ally). The US likes India because India likes to go on a shopping spree for weapons. That, China, and they want access to a market of 1.2 billion people with a rapidly rising middle class. US will never fight on behalf of India and Russia wouldn't as well. We have to fight our own battles if we want to become a major global power. Global wars are not some mohalla tussle.
Would Russia really fight against India ? US and India friendship is not even that great.
Pointless comparison. USA on its own can brutalize any alliance no matter how grand it is. Their technology, control on global financial system and abundance of natural resources are way way way ahead of any other country's as of now.
Weird crossover.
This is only hypothetical, the channel has scenarios - its 4 way world power battle