China has built the equivalent of the entire French Navy in the past five years

Over the past five years, China has built a number of ships equivalent to the entire French Navy, significantly outpacing the shipbuilding pace of the United States.

## The naval arms race

Over the last five years, **China** has made an impressive quantitative leap in its naval capability. It is estimated to have added between **120 and 140 new ships**, including destroyers, frigates and submarines, plus an aircraft carrier. This represents growth that, in terms of units, rivals or exceeds the entire **French Navy**. Meanwhile, the **United States** has built around **40 to 45 new ships** in the same period, and has retired between **70 and 75 vessels**, some of them relatively modern.

## Wear and production capacity

The comparison worsens when losses are considered. The **United States** has retired a considerable number of ships, including programs that have failed to meet expectations, such as the **LCS (Littoral Combat Ship)**. This contrasts with China's strategy, which appears focused on massive expansion. **China's** current active fleet exceeds **370 ships**, compared with **285 to 290** for the **United States**. It is even mentioned that the **United States** is looking for shipyards in allied countries to ease its own bottlenecks and failures in military programs.

## Technology and the future

Although the technology of US ships remains, in general, more advanced, **China** is not far behind in innovation. They already have **railguns** and **hypersonic missiles**. In addition, they are the world's largest manufacturer of drones, which could represent a considerable strategic advantage. The budget gap is notable: the annual budget of the **US Navy** is triple that of China, but China's construction estimulante ilegal and numerical expansion point to an increasingly tight naval competition.