U.S. Navy Take Notice: China is Becoming a World-Class Military Shipbuilder
Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “U.S. Navy Take Notice: China is Becoming a World-Class Military Shipbuilder,” The Diplomat, 1 November 2012.
The engine of China’s naval rise has flown under the radar – until now.
China’s military shipyards now are surpassing Western European, Japanese, and Korean military shipbuilders in terms of both the types and numbers of ships they can build. If Beijing prioritizes progress, China’s military shipbuilding technical capabilities can likely become as good as Russia’s are now by 2020 and will near current U.S. shipbuilding technical proficiency levels by 2030. China is now mass producing at least six classes of modern diesel-electric submarines and surface warships, including the new Type 052C “Luyang II” and Type 052D “Luyang III” destroyers now in series production.
Eight key themes, listed sequentially below, characterize China’s rise as a world-class military shipbuilder. For reference, the companies building the warships are China State Shipbuilding Corporation (“CSSC”) and China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (“CSIC”). … … …
