is actually very simple: it's not that it can't afford it but that it is unnecessary. As we all know, as the most combative country in the world, the US military has soldiers fighting overseas almost all year round. For American soldiers, they don't know when they will be sent to the battlefield. Therefore, they must wear bulletproof vests during training so that when they arrive on the real battlefield, they will not feel inconvenient to move because they suddenly wear bulletproof vests.
For the US military, if the soldiers are not equipped with body armor, then it is estimated that many US soldiers will refuse to go to the battlefield. After all, even if the US soldiers are very powerful, they are also afraid of death. It is understood that in addition to equipping every soldier with body armor, the US military also spends a lot of money every year to upgrade and transform body armor. Now the US military’s body armor has been replaced for four or five generations, while most other countries’ body armor is still in the third generation.
In contrast, because China has always adhered to a peaceful and independent foreign policy, and has almost never participated in or launched wars, most of the PLA soldiers do not need to go to the battlefield except for a few soldiers such as the maintenance force. In addition, as China's military strength becomes stronger and stronger, few countries dare to provoke China directly. Therefore, in a safe environment, there is no need for PLA soldiers to wear body armor.
One thing to emphasize is that body armor, like other military implementations, has a service life. If it is only placed in a warehouse as a strategic material, it will not be bad for three to five years. But if it is used frequently, the life span will be shortened by half. Therefore, if it is not necessary, there is no need to equip body armor on a large scale. Of course, if a real war breaks out one day, then all the PLA soldiers will definitely wear body armor.
