** The PLA Navy

By Anthony H. Cordesman with the assistance of Joseph Kendall

October 24, 2016

The PLA Navy (PLAN) has seen impressive transformation and growth since the 1980s and continues to pursue an ambitious naval modernization program. A “fortress navy” once dependent on land-based support and comprised mostly of patrol craft has shifted towards a force more capable of independent action, comprised of major combatants, and better able to project power along China’s periphery and around the world.

Coupled to China’s improvements in its air and missile capabilities, the PLAN gives China a steadily increasing capability to defend its coasts against any form of attack, project power deeply beyond its coasts, and potentially to limit or deter the U.S. from action in Northeast Asia, the South China Sea, and Taiwan. Over time, it will convert China’s overall mix of naval-air-missile power to a true “blue water” Navy – one capable of operating deep into the Pacific, the Strait of Malacca, and Indian Ocean – as well as launch nuclear-armed missiles from its submarines.

A new report by the CSIS Burke Chair in Strategy provides a detailed analysis of PLAN force structure, and is available on the CSIS website at https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/161024_PLAN_Final.pdf 

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