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Comment by jessaustin | Hacker News Reader

None of this may be enough to match China. Its own surging arsenal now includes “monster” coast guard cutters...

China's navy is now bigger than the U.S. Navy.[1] Not as many large ships yet, but for South China Sea dominance, aircraft carrier task groups are not necessary.

[1] https://news.usni.org/2021/11/03/china-has-worlds-largest-na...

only bigger by number of ships. By tonnage i think its less then half the size.

Worth noting that while China has a larger navy in terms of number of ships, the US Navy is larger in terms of tonnage, and most critically has more aircraft carrier task forces.

I am aware that there are still some unanswered questions regarding the role / effectiveness of aircraft carriers in a world of hypersonic anti ship missiles. But it's still some important context for that stat. These questions probably will not be answered unless a peer conflict occurs (which we can only hope never happens).

> Worth noting that while China has a larger navy in terms of number of ships, the US Navy is larger in terms of tonnage, and most critically has more aircraft carrier task forces.

China needs carriers if it is going to fight the US over, say, Puerto Rico.

It doesn’t need them to fight the US over Taiwan. Mainland China (well, the parts close to Taiwan, at any rate) is one big, unsinkable, aircraft carrier for that war.

OTOH, they do need amphibious assault ships, but they have lots of them (slightly fewer than the US does.)

You don't need larger ships if you are so close to the theaters involved Also, big tonnage means a bigger target for cheaper and deadly weapons

How useful is that tonnage going to be after the first salvo? It's been a long time since "submarines or targets" and China has invested heavily in missile development.

...for South China Sea dominance...

Try as I might, I can't escape the conclusion that it is totally valid for China to "dominate" a body of water called the South China Sea. In similar fashion, Thailand dominates the adjoining Gulf of Thailand. That isn't to say that neighbors like Vietnam or Indonesia don't also have interests, or indeed that shipping wouldn't be welcome under any flag, but simple straightforward reality is right there in the name. If there were some other entity called e.g. The Holy Righteous Ethical Sea Dominators, maybe they would have a case for dominating the South China Sea or any other part of the ocean. There is no such entity.

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