China building warships at twice U.S. rate

FPI / November 18, 2019

By Richard Fisher, Geostrategy-Direct.com

According to Chinese sources the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is producing almost twice as many warships as is the United States.

This data bolsters estimates that by 2030 China could have up to 550 warships while the U.S. Navy is projected to have only 331.

According to data posted on the popular Chinese CJDBY military issues web page in January 2019, for 2018 the PLAN built 21 warships while the U.S. only built 9.

For 2019 it was estimated that the PLAN would build 19 warships, while the U.S. would only build 10. This points to an average Chinese warship building rate that is twice that of the United States.

Writing in the Winter 2019 issue of the U.S. Naval War College’s journal, Naval War College Review, retired U.S. Navy Captain James E. Fanell, in his article “China’s Global Naval Strategy And Expanding Force Structure,” estimated that by 2030 the PLAN could have about 550 warships, consisting of about 450 surface warships and 99 submarines.
Meanwhile, budgetary, personnel and design/construction difficulties may prevent the U.S. Navy from achieving its goal of maintaining a force of 355 warships, both surface ships and submarines.

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