While there might be strength in numbers something tells me that the ships may be mass produced, cheaply made, with no sort of quality assurance during the process.
China’s navy is on track to be double the size of the United States’ by 2030, which puts U.S. interests at risk in the Asia Pacific and around the world, a U.S. military expert testified at a recent congressional hearing.
“The future size of the [People’s Liberation Army] Navy will be about 550 warships and submarines by 2030. That is twice the size of today’s U.S. Navy,” said Retired U.S. Navy Capt. James Fanell at a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Thursday.
“As such, it’s clear the U.S. Navy is at great risk. We simply are not adequately sized or outfitted to meet our national security commitments in the Indo-Asia Pacific, let alone around the globe,” said Fanell, former director of intelligence and information operations for the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet.
Fanell said the Chinese navy, or PLAN, currently consists of about 400 warships — at least 330 surface ships and 66 submarines. Meanwhile, he said the U.S. Navy has 283 warships — 211 surface ships and 72 submarines.
While the U.S. Navy aims to grow to 355 ships by 2030, it is hotly debated whether it can be achieved.
Fanell and other experts who testified said the growth of China’s military — particularly its navy — is just one part of its plan to become the world’s superpower by 2050. That plan not only involves pushing the U.S. out of Asia, where it has allies and interests to defend, but expanding Chinese influence throughout the world.
“China, to date, has largely relied on its economic power to cultivate influence in its immediate neighborhood and beyond. But the PLA Navy is beginning to expand its reach to protect China’s growing interests,” said Patricia Kim, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Already, China’s naval…