To tell the truth, China's military development in recent years is obvious to all, especially in the navy, from the end of the 20th century in the 90s, when the Chinese navy turned everything upside down, and could not muster 10 modern warships.
At that time, the Yinhe incident and the 96 Strait crisis caused China to suffer "humiliation". In particular, during the crisis in the 96 Strait, the United States only drove two aircraft carrier strike groups close to the Taiwan Strait, which prevented hundreds of thousands of PLA troops from preparing to impose coercive measures against Taiwan. At that time, there was even a sentence that "the 2 million PLA can't do anything about two US aircraft carrier battle groups," which made people feel "humiliated" and very sad at the same time.
However, after entering the 21st century, in just over 20 years, the warships of the PLA Navy can be described as "dumplings" built, and the world-class 0.55 million tons of drive, Shandong, Liaoning, and even the Fujian aircraft carrier equipped with electromagnetic catapults have been launched or put into service one after another. Not to mention a large number of 052D China Aegis ships, several Type 075 amphibious assault ships and other advanced ships, which are also included in the Chinese Navy. Today, the strength of the Chinese Navy is no longer what it used to be, and we are even more capable of competing with the US military in the Western Pacific, which was unimaginable more than 20 years ago.
A related example is that in 2016, two nuclear-powered aircraft carrier strike groups of the United States drove into the South China Sea, but in the end, the PLA assembled hundreds of warships, dozens of warplanes, and the PLA anti-ship ballistic missile combat exercises, and finally withdrew from the South China Sea in disgrace.
In addition, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has only a 0.55-million-ton Nanchang ship, which has gone hundreds of nautical miles alone to deal with an entire US aircraft carrier battle group. The above is an example, and it is not that the US Navy, which has always been arrogant, deliberately "releases water" to us, but that our strength is due to it.
However, although the strength of the Chinese Navy has already advanced by leaps and bounds, and now there are still a large number of warships under construction, there are still some people who have been kneeling for a long time and cannot stand up, and they are still unwilling to accept the reality that the Chinese Navy has the strength to compete with the US military.
They say that the reason why the military strength of China and the United States is constantly getting closer is because the US military feels that the equipment on duty is sufficient, and the military strength of the US military has developed to an unattainable level, and it is enough to deal with the current situation, and there is no need to develop it all at once.
Moreover, the United States is still the most powerful country in the world as a whole, and even if a war breaks out, the United States will immediately start the mode of "dumplings" for warships, and then it will be able to build hundreds of warships or aircraft carriers in "minutes", which has verified that the United States has such a capability during World War II.
Indeed, it is undeniable that during World War II, after Japan launched the Pearl Harbor incident, the United States immediately demonstrated its powerful military industrial capability and started the operation of the war machine in a short period of time, and all kinds of warships and warplanes were quickly manufactured like "dumplings". At that time, the US military industry could complete the construction of a battleship even in a week's time.
Throughout World War II, the United States built more than 100 aircraft carriers and hundreds of other types of warships, which seems quite terrifying now.
However, we need to pay attention to one thing: Can the so-called aircraft carriers of the Second World War be compared with the supercarriers of today? Obviously, it is impossible, and the so-called escort aircraft carriers of the United States at that time probably flattened the superstructure of some large merchant ships, and then installed wooden decks. Anyway, as long as there is a flat deck, a ship that can provide propeller fighters to take off and land, at that time can be called an aircraft carrier.
But now it is different, the aircraft carrier of World War II can not be compared with the modern aircraft carrier at all, the technical requirements of the modern aircraft carrier are quite high, and the tonnage is not comparable during World War II, the super nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the United States has even reached 100,000 tons, and the avionics technology, mechanical technology, material technology, etc., are the top technology today. Moreover, the construction period is also longer, and the United States has only built a Ford-class aircraft carrier, which has gone through more than 20 years from the beginning of development to the actual launch of service.
If this is placed during World War II, even if it is after World War II, the United States will probably not be able to build such an aircraft carrier. Therefore, some people believe that the United States still has the ability to "dump" aircraft carriers in wartime, which is obviously too much to mythologize the US military-industrial capability.
And more importantly, since the so-called "deindustrialization" of the United States has been advancing, the US military industry has not only not shown an upward trend, but has also fallen into a downward spiral.
The US media revealed that there are now only four military shipyards in the United States, and even the repair and maintenance of the Navy's ships in service have to rely on civilian commercial shipyards. It is precisely because of the great industrial transfer carried out by the United States that the shipbuilding industry in the United States has entered a situation of continuous and substantial contraction for several decades. There is even a view that with the current strength of the US military industry, let alone the large-scale manufacture of military ships, it may not even be able to maintain and support a huge navy.
Why do you say that? This is because the United States is now not only "difficult to build ships," but is also facing the dilemma of "difficulty in repairing ships."
On April 11, a senior official with the U.S. government revealed that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida may discuss the establishment of a so-called defense industry commission with the Biden administration after his visit to the United States. The purpose of setting up this agency is also simple, that is, to allow more U.S. Navy ships to travel to Japanese shipyards for maintenance. Because from the point of view of the United States, it may take less time to send a warship to a Japanese shipyard for maintenance and repair than it does in the United States.
This is also the first time that the United States has sought such help from other countries, mainly to solve the trouble of "ship repair difficulties" in the United States. Indeed, this has surprised many countries: The United States, as the only superpower in the world today, especially in terms of military strength, has been reduced to the situation of seeking Japan's help in repairing ships, which is really unimaginable. But that's just the way it is.
China, on the other hand, currently has hundreds of shipyards of various types, including more than 10 shipyards that can build large warships, and China is several times larger than the United States in this regard. Compared with the problem of "difficulty in repairing ships" in the United States, all the warships used by China's navy can not only be maintained and used on their own, but also can build a large number of ships in batches.
In a word, our current strength has been enhanced, although in some places we still have to pay attention to the gap, not to underestimate the enemy, but we must not be arrogant. The China of today is no longer the China of 120 years ago, and it is time for our waists to straighten up.