Lauren Williams of DefenseOne reports that China is winning the shipbuilding numbers game—and that’s a problem. Williams writes:
“The [People’s Liberation Army] navy has been on a historic trajectory these last 25 years, and while we are, I am, confident that we would prevail in combat,” Adm. Samuel Paparo, Jr., commander for U.S. Pacific Fleet, told senators Thursday. “We are not overmatched, but I don’t like the pace of the trajectory.” […]
China’s Navy has 79 more ships than the U.S., said Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, including 30 it added in the past year—half of which were large surface vessels.
China’s “rapid naval buildup has highlighted our own shipbuilding deficiencies,” Sullivan said. “Numerically, they now have a larger Navy, roughly 370 ships to our 291 ships. Last year, they added 30 ships to their fleet; 15 were large surface combatants including cruisers, destroyers and another aircraft carrier. We added two.” […]
“I’m not savvy on the precise range, and it’s always a choice between how much gas it takes to get to the point where you’re refueling and how much give there is at that point. But I am concerned about the joint force’s ability to refuel a dynamic force operating in the air,” Paparo said. “We’ve got to have a consistent critical eye.”
Read more here.
