Photo: MARK SCHIEFELBEIN / AFP / Getty Images
China already has the world’s largest maritime force with a inventory of around Released Wednesday by the United States Naval Institute.
With 355 ships in its fleet, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is scheduled to expand its inventory to 420 ships over the next four years, estimates China’s annual military report from the Pentagon.
For 2030, the PLAN is expected to have 460 boats.
The estimate of 355 vessels considers “submarines, aircraft carriers, oceanic amphibious ships, mine warfare ships and au xiliares de fleet ”, according to the report, which covers the events in 2020.
“This figure does not include 85 patrol boats and vessels carrying anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM) ”, the report states.
The report, which is mandated by Congress each year, describes that China’s navy has increasing ambitions to operate more versatile platforms beyond the Indo-Pacific region.
“Towards the goal of the People’s Republic of China to build a ‘strong and modernized naval force’, PLAN is an increasingly modern and flexible force that has focused on replacing its previous generations of platforms that had limited capabilities in favor of larger and more modern multi-role combatants, ”the report states.
According to information included in the document, a starting from 2020, the PLAN and It is largely made up of modern multi-function platforms that feature advanced anti-aircraft, anti-aircraft and anti-submarine weapons and sensors.
“This modernization is aligned with the increasing emphasis of the People’s Republic of China on the maritime domain and the increasing demands that the PLAN operate at greater distances from China. ”
This week’s release of the Pentagon report comes amid intense tensions between China and Taiwan.
Last month, China flew dozens of its aircraft in international airspace near Taiwan.
A senior defense official said this week that those flights could be part of an effort to intimidate Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of China and aims to reunify with mainland China. .
The Pentagon report estimates that China will keep an invent river from 65 to 65 ships in the next decade and will change its old submarines for newer ones “almost one by one. ”
Regarding its nuclear arsenal, the Department of Defense says that China probably wants to have 1, 000 nuclear warheads by the end of this decade , a projection that exceeds the latest Pentagon estimate of the rate of nuclear development in that country.
“Last year, the Department of Defense estimated that the People’s Republic of China had an arsenal of nuclear warheads in the 150 and projected that it would at least double over the next decade, ”the report reads.
“Since then, Beijing has accelerated its nuclear expansion, which may allow the People’s Republic of China to have up to 700 nuclear warheads deliverable for 2027 and you probably intend to have at least 1, 000 warheads for 2030 ”.
Read more
The United States accuses the Chinese military of ‘hacking’ information from 150 millions of Americans
Biden presents Pentagon panel to evaluate US strategy. with China
The United States noted that its nuclear arsenal has been reduced to 3, 700 warheads