Report to Congress on Chinese Naval Modernization

U.S. Naval Institute ^ | March 10, 2021 9:01 AM | Congressional Research Service Report

[Retain Mike]

In an era of renewed great power competition, China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, has become the top focus of U.S. defense planning and budgeting. China’s navy, which China has been steadily modernizing for more than 25 years, since the early to mid-1990s, has become a formidable military force within China’s near-seas region, and it is conducting a growing number of operations in more-distant waters, including the broader waters of the Western Pacific, the Indian Ocean, and waters around Europe.

China’s navy is viewed as posing a major challenge to the U.S. Navy’s ability to achieve and maintain wartime control of blue-water ocean areas in the Western Pacific—the first such challenge the U.S. Navy has faced since the end of the Cold War—and forms a key element of a Chinese challenge to the long-standing status of the United States as the leading military power in the Western Pacific. Some U.S. observers are expressing concern or alarm regarding the pace of China’s naval shipbuilding effort, particularly for building larger surface ships, and resulting trend lines regarding the relative sizes China’s navy and the U.S. Navy.

[Retain Mike]

This is the second of three articles from the Proceedings I am posting. Articles about China's navy appear several times each week now. They deal with the navy, but I am sure similar articles are written by publications treating with other parts of their military and with economic, and political aspects. There are too many pages for me, so I choose from the table of contents. I think too few realize China is the main enemy.

[butlerweave]

Congress , BLAH it’s way too busy fighting a War against US citizens

[MurrietaMadman]

...I am sure similar articles are written by publications treating with other parts of their military and with economic, and political aspects...

Here's one...

https://asiatimes.com/2021/02/the-china-model-has-come-to-america/

[pierrem15]

We need a lot more submarines instead of big, easily targeted surface ships.

The Chinese are very vulnerable to a prolonged blockade and more subs would add a lot more teeth to that. Our surface combatants could then pursue ships outside of China's missile range. More aircraft in Japan and even Vietnam would help, too.

[PIF]

Let the Chinese do ll the building they wish, our navy is proudly concentrating on social issues - when it isn’t spending billions on ships that amount to toys or experiments that fail.

[Pollard]

In an era of renewed great power competition, China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, has become the top focus of U.S. defense planning and budgeting.

I thought they were busy enacting SJW measures

[Gen.Blather]

I read that the US Navy downplayed results of studies concerning the effectiveness of mines in order to get their budgets approved. This was after WWII. Mines, or even the threat of mines, can severely restrict what a navy or merchants can do and where they can go. Although mines get deployed now and then, nobody relies on them to project power. They are area denial technology. Having been the Navy project manager on a major mine sweeping project, I can tell you that mines are a serious threat. One reason they are not used more often is that, until recently, they were indiscriminate. But the technology exists now to make your ships immune while only targeting specific targets or even classes of targets is possible.

I sincerely hope that the Taiwanese have been busy laying mines that can be remotely activated as when they actually need them, it will be too late to lay them. The Taiwanese could mine virtually the entire coast of China and every harbor. Wait for war, turn on the mines, and then wait for China to sue for peace. That’s because China imports a lot of food and most of its energy. Cut off, or restrict these imports and in six weeks, the Chinese people won’t give a damn about conquering a renegade province.

A mine can be made for anywhere from a thousand dollars to, say, ten thousand dollars. The electronics in the average cell phone and a few simple sensors could give it amazing discriminatory powers. The simplest navy ship, on the other hand, can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. For the price of one ship, you could probably mine every port in China. It doesn’t take a lot of mines as it’s practically impossible to sweep for them the way we did in the past. The electronics is that good. A fairly simple mine can tell the difference between a sweep and a real target.

[PerConPat]

Admiral Shen Jinlong, Commander of the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)...I'm sure he's reading the Report to Congress on Chinese Naval Modernization most carefully.

These published reports, American transparency, would drive my four-star Admiral boss up the wall.

[Vaduz]

Report to Congress on Chinese Naval modernization : The payment has been added to your Swiss account keep up the good work.
Much like Xi

[Retain Mike]

Thanks for the post. The USNI articles I have read on the subject did not include the obvious applications of technology you mention to current generation mines which makes the process of removing the threat so difficult.