China will dangle that carrot of the "huge" Chinese market as incentive to get those European arms. But obviously, if China sells much more to the US than the US sells to China, there can't be that much of a market for EU goods.
There's only one reason for China to be accumulating arms, and that is for a war against either its neighbors -- such as sovereign Taiwan -- or against the US.
My view is, the US needs a working missile defense, and a new class of sub-hunting subs, perhaps self-guided, unmanned, stealthy, small robotic subs.
The DOD actually seems to be combining several approaches to ASW: New unmanned and manned sensor/weapon platforms, "persistent" surface and underwater sensors and even unmanned underwater "weapon pods" placed strategically around the world are all in the works. The point is that a meaningful ASW response is not exclusively about new submarines.I think that you would agree with me that these sorts of things need to be given greater priority, include new subs, of course.
I would point out that the new subs would be every similar to AIP diesels but would be nuclear. With all electric drives and distributed jet pulsors, these boats would have the same sort of signatures that the newer boats out there have but with much greater power and flexibility.
If current trends continue, war with China must surely come. perhaps even the existence of these systems, and the will to use them, will deter China.