The growing strength of the PLA Navy has aroused the interest of many foreign military researchers. How to use quantitative indicators to measure the combat effectiveness of the PLA Navy, and how big the gap between the former Western naval powers and today's PLA Navy is, has always been a question of interest to the majority of netizens. In the era of large ships and huge guns, the number and caliber of guns on capital ships used to be the main indicators reflecting the strength of the navy. Now, it seems that naval guns are gradually being replaced by ship-based missiles, so the number of missile vertical launch tubes has become an indicator of naval strength.
Recently, a foreign military researcher compared the strength of China's navy with that of Britain, France and Italy, using the number of vertical missile tubes as the main indicator. Because Britain, France, and Italy were traditional naval powers, having conquered countless colonies during the Age of Discovery, even today, these three countries are among the top three most powerful navies in Europe. However, the results of the comparison made Europeans lose their faces. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) only came up with a Liaoning aircraft carrier battle group formation, and the navies of the European powers had to be dispatched to make a bit of comparison.
The escort formation of the Liaoning has one Type 055 destroyer, 3 Type 052D destroyers, 1 052C destroyer and 1 054A frigate. The 055 has 112 vertical hair tubes, the 052D has 64 each, the 052C has 48, and the 054A has 32. Of course, the functions of these launch tubes are not exactly the same, the launch tubes of the 054A are mainly for anti-aircraft missiles, and the launch tubes of the 055 can accommodate the YJ-21 hypersonic missile. In total, there are a total of 384 missile launch tubes in the Liaoning battle formation. What about foreign armies? Let's look at the numbers. The entire French Navy has only two Horizon-class destroyers, eight Aquitaine-class frigates. There are 48 penduls in the Horizon class and 32 in the Aquitaine class, for a total of 352 hairpipes. That is to say, the number of vertical hair tubes of the capital ships of the entire French Navy is not as good as that of an escort formation of the Chinese Navy.
The situation in Italy is a bit worse. The Italian Navy also has two Horizon-class destroyers, as well as eight Mini-class frigates and three Dileville-class patrol ships. The Italian Horizon class is the same as the French model, and the number of vertical hair pipes is the same as in France. The Minnie class has only 16 pendulums. Italy also has three Dreyville-class patrol ships, each with 16 vertical hair tubes. In total, there are only 272 roots. Britain, as the oldest naval power, is much stronger than France and Italy. Britain now has 6 Type 45 destroyers, each with 48 vertical hair tubes. 9 Type 23 frigates, each with 32 vertical hair tubes. A total of 576, which is a lot more than the Liaoning formation. However, the British Navy did not have enough money to fill these tubes with missiles. The British Navy has a huge plan to build a new batch of warships by 2030, including eight Type 26 frigates and five Type 31 frigates. It is said that 1,168 hair tubes can be extended.
If according to foreign speculation, the British plan is pediatric in front of the PLA. Foreign media estimate that by 2026, the PLA will add 5 Type 055, 9 Type 052D, and 8 Type 054A/B. The number of vertical hair tubes for these new ships alone reached 1,392. That is, the active strength of the entire European Navy and the plan on paper are only a small fraction of the PLA Navy. Moreover, with the British government's stretched financial resources and shipbuilding capacity, it would be good to be able to achieve half of it by 2030. At present, the British Navy is cruising in the Asia-Pacific region, and it cannot even assemble a complete battle group formation.
Of course, these European countries are still arrogant in other seas outside the Asia-Pacific region. France and Great Britain often organized fleet cruises to inspect their overseas territories. However, we have noticed that in recent years, European countries have not been very interested in the Indo-Pacific military operations launched by the United States, and they have been forced by the United States to participate occasionally, which may be directly related to the disparity in naval power between China and Europe. These Western powers believe in the law of the jungle the most, and the Americans regard the enemy they cannot defeat as friends. For robbers, the stick is the best gift. Therefore, the Chinese Navy still has to work hard!