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THE Chinese People’s Liberation Army – Navy (PLA-N), which holds the title of the world’s largest navy, has been experiencing rapid growth, surpassing both India and the United States in terms of shipbuilding capabilities.
The speed at which the PLA-N integrates new warships into its fleet has often been likened to “adding dumplings to a simmering soup.” A leaked presentation slide from US Navy Intelligence suggests that Chinese shipyards’ construction capacity exceeds that of the US by a staggering 232 times.
Sometime between 2015 and 2020, China overtook the United States in terms of the number of warships in its naval fleet, and the disparity between the two navies has continued to widen. According to the Pentagon’s annual report on Chinese military and security developments submitted to the US Congress, the Chinese Navy boasted 350 warships compared to the 293 warships in the US Navy battle force.
This significant gap of 60 warships between the two navies is projected to increase every five years, with China estimated to possess around 475 naval vessels by 2035, in contrast to the 305-317 warships expected in the US Navy.
The Fox News-published slide reveals that Chinese shipyards possess a capacity of approximately 23.2 million tons, while the US lags far behind with less than 100,000 tons, underscoring China’s shipbuilding capabilities as more than 232 times greater than that of the United States.
The slide also provides a side-by-side comparison of the “battle force composition” of the two nations’ navies, encompassing combatant ships, submarines, mine warfare vessels, major amphibious ships, and large combat support auxiliary ships.
Another section of the slide estimates the proportion of each country’s shipyards dedicated to naval production. China allocates roughly 70 percent of its shipbuilding revenue to naval output, whereas the United States allocates about 95 percent of its shipbuilding revenue to the same.
The US Department of Defense had anticipated this development, as retired Admiral Phil Davidson, the former commander of Indo-Pacific Command, predicted in 2021 that the next six years would witness the peak of China’s naval threat.
The growing maritime capabilities of the PLA-N align with its ambitious quest for additional overseas bases, including Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, Karachi and Gwadar in Pakistan, and potentially Ream in Cambodia. These efforts aim to address strategic choke points in the Indian Ocean Region and the broader Indo-Pacific.
(Source:The EurAsian/Jr Amigo/ai/mnm)