The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has been growing in strength in leaps-and-bounds over the past few decades, adopting more advanced surface and undersea vessels as well as critical support ships. Key to its power-projection goals in the region (and globally for that matter) is the increasing might of its fixed-wing carrier fleet, currently numbering two modest units but soon to be joined by a pair of indigenous designs offering greater capabilities in Blue Water environments. The submarine fleet comprises over seventy boats from multiple classes with only a few beginning to age out. The destroyer fleet is relatively young with some of the oldest units not yet thirty years old. Similarly, the frigate fleet is a young fighting force with a few exceptions and numbers over forty vessels to date. Like the Russian Navy, the PLAN puts a decided focus on its corvette strength with some seventy hulls committed to the category and all of a young, modern design as hull ages go. The eight-strong mine/countermine fleet is an aging group with the youngest units numbering 27 years of age. Offshore strength hulls are also reaching a critical period in its service lives, the ten vessels all over 25 years. The amphibious assault force has been given renewed life with all-new modern players covering helicopter and transport operations from ship-to-shore - these would be key elements in an invasion of neighboring Taiwan. Twenty-four vessels remain on order and strengthen numbers in carrier, submarine, destroyer, and LDH categories. By and large, the PLAN has done well to improve its naval standing in the world, producing yearly the equivalent of a Royal Navy fleet, with its eyes set squarely on one day supplanting the United States as the preeminent naval power in the world.
The following represents an overview of the modern naval fighting capabilities of the People's Liberation Army Navy (2023). The service currently counts 425 total units in its active naval inventory. This total includes frontline commissioned vessels but excludes smaller patrol vessels, auxiliary / survey ships, replenishment, and historical ceremonial types. The WDMMW review takes into account specific categories of warships covering attack, defense, and general support designs. Inventory numbers and related unit types are provided as-is and derived from publically-available information / sources. "On Order" totals found at the bottom of this article are related to any future hulls currently under procurement/construction though said hulls may not be delivered for service in the current year for various reasons.
Updated: 11/10/2023 | © www.WDMMW.org
Aircraft Carriers (3)
Hulls defined as those designed primarily to launch, retreive, and maintain fixed-wing and/or rotary-wing aircraft; nuclear- or conventionally-powered.
NOTES: CNS Shandong is of the Type 002 class and type, a variant of the Soviet-era Kuznetsov-class; Type-003 was launched in June of 2022 - to date, all PLAN carriers are conventionally-powered.
Submarines (72)
Hulls developed for undersea/submersible operation; nuclear-powered or conventionally-powered.
NOTES: Some commissioned dates above estimated.
Destroyers (48)
Multi-mission hulls developed for Blue Water environment; operating independently or as part of the main surface fleet.
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Frigates (44)
Hulls defined as dimensionally smaller than Destroyers, though larger than corvettes, having Blue Water capabilities.
Corvettes (71)
Hulls defined as dimensionally smaller than frigates but larger than OPVs, capable of operating independently or as part of the main fighting fleet.
Mine Warfare (49)
Hulls outfitted for the purpose of mine countermeasures/countermine warfare.
NOTES: Some numbers above estimated due to lack of official reporting.
Offshore Patrol Vessels (127)
Hulls defined as OPVs and outfitted for the purpose of close-to-shore defense / deterrence.
Amphibious Assault (11)
Hulls designed specifically for the support of amphibious-minded, offshore / close-to-shore operations.
NOTES: The various individual landing ships of the PLAN are not taken into account in this showcase.
On Order (14)
Hulls set to be delivered in the current procurement year or in subsequent year(s).
NOTES: The Type 004 aircraft carrier is set to be nuclear-powered, matching more the capabilities of American Nimitz-class ships.
On Order Commitment: 14 Units
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