The Pentagon’s statement said that the new budget “a ddresses strategic competition with China through calculated defense investments,” especially for the navy and air force. Navy leaders believe have limited utility against a potential Chinese threat. But the new plan calls for fewer ships than many expected, and proposes accelerated cuts to parts of the existing fleet that U.S. Concern over China’s growing fleet and missile arsenal has fueled calls to build a larger navy, requiring a much bigger shipbuilding budget. As with its space program, China has proceeded extremely cautiously in the development of aircraft carriers, seeking to apply only technologies that have been tested and perfected.The Pentagon announced its proposed 2022 budget last week, which must ultimately be approved, and is likely to be modified by, Congress. Two are being converted to support short take-off and vertical-landing fighters.Ĭhina's new carrier was named after the Fujian province on the country's southeastern coast, following a tradition after naming its first two carriers after the provinces of Liaoning and Shandong.Ĭhina's development of the Type 003 carrier is part of a broader modernization of China's military. It also has nine amphibious assault ships that can carry helicopters and vertical-takeoff fighter jets as well.Īmerican allies like Britain and France also have their own carriers, and Japan has four "helicopter destroyers," which are technically not aircraft carriers, but carry aircraft. Navy is the world's leader in aircraft carriers, with 11 nuclear-powered vessels. Navy for now, however, and remains far behind in carriers.Īsia China looks to learn from Russia's shortcomings in Ukraine Despite having the world's largest navy numerically, however, the PLAN still has nowhere the near capabilities of the U.S. estimates the force will grow to 420 ships by 2025 and 460 ships by 2030. The PLAN currently has some 355 ships, including submarines, and the U.S. Congressional Research Service, analysts said that satellite images suggest the Type 003′s displacement will be about 100,000 tons, bigger than initially thought and similar to those of U.S. It has recently signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands that many fear could give it an outpost in the South Pacific, and is working with Cambodia on expanding a port facility there that could give it a presence in the Gulf of Thailand. In recent years, China has expanded its presence into the Indian Ocean, the Western Pacific and beyond, setting up its first overseas base over the last decade in the African Horn nation of Djibouti, where the U.S., Japan and others also maintain a military presence. Congress last year on China's military capabilities, the Department of Defense said the carrier development program was critical to the Chinese navy's continued development into a global force, "gradually extending its operational reach beyond East Asia into a sustained ability to operate at increasingly longer ranges."Ĭhina's "aircraft carriers and planned follow-on carriers, once operational, will extend air defense coverage beyond the range of coastal and shipboard missile systems and will enable task group operations at increasingly longer ranges," the Defense Department said. Navy says it conducts the missions there to ensure the free flow of international trade. China insists its territory extends to those islands, while the U.S. Navy has sailed warships past artificial islands China has built in the sea that are equipped with airstrips and other military facilities. would be willing to intervene militarily to defend TaiwanĬhina has been far and away the most aggressive in asserting its claim to virtually the entire waterway, its island features and resources.
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