Since Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492, human history has opened a new "ocean age", today about 70% of the world's population lives in less than 1,000 kilometers from the coastline, almost all the developed countries in the world are coastal countries, 90% of the goods in international trade rely on maritime transportation, it can be said that who controls the oceans, it is equivalent to dominating the earth. So today, the navy has always been a powerful service that the world's major countries attach great importance to.
(The navy is important for the modern state)
The development of the global navy in 2021 can be said to be out of the limelight, the world's major naval powers are constantly developing new warships, and the direction of development is mainly aircraft carriers, large destroyers and various types of submarines, especially can carry submarine-launched strategic missiles and cruise missiles of all kinds of submarines, are the top priority of the development of navies of various countries.
(Aircraft carriers are a symbol of sea power))
As the most effective warship in the navy at present, the aircraft carrier has always been the focus of the development of navies around the world. At present, the only countries in the world that are still building large aircraft carriers with a displacement of more than 60,000 tons are China and the United States (it seems that India also wants to join in, but its third aircraft carrier Vishaer can start construction, it is unknown), but the countries with 60,000-ton aircraft carriers have four countries, China, the United States, Britain and Russia, but the British 2 aircraft carriers often leak, and Russia's only aircraft carrier has been lying in the harbor to repair, do not know when to sail, but even so, Russia has not given up its own aircraft carrier. This is enough to show the importance of large aircraft carriers. In addition to The United States, Britain and Russia, other countries in the world are also within their own capabilities, seeking their own aircraft carrier development, for example, France plans to develop a new 70,000-ton large aircraft carrier, India plans to build a 65,000-ton aircraft carrier, other countries, such as Japan, Australia, Italy, Spain, Turkey and other countries, limited by national strength, can not afford to build large aircraft carriers, but have also developed their own 20,000 to 30,000 tons of light aircraft carriers.
(USS American Amphibious Assault Ship)
It is worth noting that in addition to the development of aircraft carriers, the development of amphibious assault ships is also remarkable: amphibious assault ships are similar in appearance to aircraft carriers, and can even be partially used as an aircraft carrier if they are equipped with fixed-wing fighters that can take off/stave off and land. At present, the world's largest amphibious assault ship is the U.S. Navy's "American" class, with a full load displacement of about 45,000 tons, followed by the "Wasp" class and China's Type 075, with a displacement of about 40,000 tons.
(Type 075 amphibious assault ship that has been launched but has not yet entered service)
Because such warships are relatively inexpensive, even if they cannot carry a large number of fixed-wing vertical/short take-off and landing fighters, they can also carry a large number of helicopters, with strong maritime aviation combat capabilities, which is a typical example of "doing more with less". Nowadays, many countries that cannot afford to build and use aircraft carriers have also been equipped with many amphibious assault ships, and it is foreseeable that the scale of amphibious assault ships will continue to expand in the future.
(055 Nanchang 101)
While aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships are developing rapidly, destroyers, frigates and other warships that provide escort protection for these warships are also developing rapidly, and there is also a trend of increasing tonnage. One of the most prominent is probably the Chinese Navy's rapid development in recent years 055 large guided missile destroyer, because the ship has a full load displacement of up to 12,000 tons, has surpassed the United States "Ticonderoga" class cruiser and Russia's "Glory" class cruiser, so the Western media also called the 055 big drive "Cruiser", that is, cruiser.
(The "Arleigh Burke 3" class destroyer being built by the U.S. military)
In addition to the Chinese Navy, the tonnage of the Constellation-class frigates officially tendered by the US military has swelled to a staggering 7,400 tons, while the tonnage of the new Allie Burke 3 destroyer has approached 10,000 tons. In addition to the Sino-US Navy, the British Navy's new Type 31 frigate also has a tonnage of more than 6,000 tons, and Japan's 30FFM "top" class frigates have also reached 5,500 tons... As modern maritime weapons and equipment become more and more complex, warships will need to carry more and more equipment in the future, so the continuous expansion of warship tonnage will become a trend.
(The 30FFM frigate of the Sea of Japan is undergoing sea trials.
When we talk about the navy, we must talk about submarines, and today's submarine technology has been quite developed, and submarines have evolved from a single sea-breaking combat weapon to a strategic equipment that can attack sea-to-ground and can carry nuclear warheads. For some countries whose comprehensive national strength is not strong enough to maintain a strong surface fleet, submarines are a kind of highly efficient weaponry.
(Russian Type 955 strategic nuclear submarine in the Ice Sea)
Speaking of submarines, we have to mention Russia, as early as the Cold War period, the Soviet Union is the world's submarine power, but also a submarine power, the Soviet Navy was equipped with a variety of excellent performance of nuclear submarines and conventional submarines at the same time, and now Russia's national strength is not good, in the surface fleet can not effectively oppose the United States and NATO, submarines have become the main means of combat of the Russian Navy. In 2021, the Russian Navy received 1 Type 885M attack nuclear submarine and 1 Type 955A strategic missile nuclear submarine, and in the future these two submarines are expected to be delivered to the Russian Navy at a rate of one per year. In fact, in addition to Russia, the United States is also rapidly upgrading its own nuclear submarines, because the Los Angeles-class attack nuclear submarines and ohio-class strategic nuclear submarines built before 2000 are basically expired, so the United States plans to build about 70 new submarines in the next 30 years to replace the current old nuclear submarines.
(It is said to be a conventional submarine that can launch submarine-launched ballistic missiles, the "Shimayama Anchangho", which belongs to the first submarine of South Korea's KSS-III class.)
Conventional submarines carrying submarine-launched missiles have also become important weapons for many countries that cannot build nuclear submarines, such as South Korea's test-firing of submarine-launched ballistic missiles aboard its self-built Shimayama Ahn Chang-ho conventional submarine in September 2021. South Korea's self-developed "Island Hill Anchanghao" class submarine is a conventional ballistic missile submarine expanded from the German Type 212 AIP submarine, which can carry 6 Xuanwu-4 ballistic missiles, which have an effective range of 500 kilometers, although only short-range tactical missiles, but submarines carrying ballistic missiles still have a certain strategic deterrent capability, and for many other countries that want to have submarine-launched ballistic missiles, South Korea's attempt is a successful example.
(The development of china's navy in 2021 is still rapid)
All in all, from the perspective of the development of naval ships in various countries in 2021, both surface ships and submarines are developing in the direction of large-scale, while the world's major naval powers have not relaxed the pace of developing new shipboard weapons, such as the United States has begun to install laser weapons on its newly built destroyers, Russia has installed "zircon" hypersonic missiles for its own frigates and submarines, and South Korea has simply built conventional submarines that can carry ballistic missiles. Therefore, in the future, if the Chinese navy wants to be invincible, it is also necessary to strengthen the research and development of our own large surface ships, and at the same time make efforts in new technologies and new equipment to reach the world's leading level as soon as possible.