After entering the new century, the people's navy has risen strongly, and the weapons and equipment have been changed to the previous single, and now the weapons and equipment of the people's navy are diverse, from small missile frigates to large domestic aircraft carriers. The rise of the People's Navy is based on the rapid increase in the number of ships, and in April this year, the People's Navy installed three ships in a single day, including the 055 guided-missile destroyer "Dalian", the 075 amphibious assault ship "Hainan" and the "Long March-18" strategic nuclear submarine. The increase in the number of ships has enabled the People's Navy to better carry out its tasks.
The improvement of its own strength has significantly expanded the scope of activities of the People's Navy. Previously, the People's Navy could only operate in China's four major offshore waters, with almost no ocean-going operations. But now the People's Navy has successfully broken through the blockade of the US "island chain" and can freely enter and exit the Pacific And Indian Oceans. In early September, a formation of ships from the People's Navy appeared in the waters off the Aleutian Islands near Alaska, to the consternation of the U.S. Coast Guard. The current People's Navy has changed from a coastal defensive force to a far-sea defense force.
The rise of the people's navy is the inevitable result of China's rapid economic development and national defense modernization, and it is also to better meet the needs of the country. But in the eyes of the United States, the rise of the People's Navy posed a great threat to them, so the Pentagon began to hype the people's navy to improve its strength. In China's annual military reports released last year and this year, the Pentagon defined the People's Navy as the world's largest maritime fleet. According to the Pentagon, the People's Navy has 355 capital ships, while the U.S. Navy has only 305.
The US media believes that the People's Liberation Army Navy has two major advantages over the US Navy, one is the number of ships, which not only exists at this stage, but also the gap in the number of naval ships of the two countries will gradually widen in the future. The US media believes that as the geopolitical situation around China becomes more complex, the People's Liberation Army Navy will accelerate the number of ships built, whether it is aircraft carriers or guided missile frigates, and the number of future construction will continue to grow for a long time. In contrast, the U.S. Navy may modernize existing ships.
Second, the people's liberation army navy's potential combat area is mainly concentrated in China's coastal waters. The advantage of coastal operations is that the forces involved in the operation are not only the navy, but also the air force and coastal defense forces. In addition, one of the advantages of coastal operations is that they can receive timely supplies and support. In contrast, the U.S. Navy is mainly engaged in ocean-going operations, and if a naval war breaks out between the Navies of China and the United States, the U.S. Navy needs to mobilize the masses, while the People's Liberation Army Navy is a matter of waiting for work.
The US media said that the US Navy wants to eliminate these two advantages, and there is a trick that can be used, that is, to vigorously develop unmanned warships. Unmanned warships can not only increase the number of U.S. Navy warships, but also enhance the mobility of the U.S. Navy and enhance the ability of ocean-going combat.