According to the latest assessment report from the White House, a new development has emerged in the Sino-U.S. competition: the field where China has first systematically surpassed the United States is not the economy, but military power—particularly in naval capabilities. The traditional U.S. military advantages are rapidly crumbling, and the gap is being continuously reversed. According to U.S. analysis, America's Navy is now comprehensively outpaced by China across three core dimensions.
First, China's shipbuilding capacity and defense industry efficiency exhibit a chasm-like gap. Leveraging a complete industrial chain, China firmly holds the top position globally in shipbuilding, achieving large-scale mass production of warships at extremely low costs. For vessels of equivalent displacement, Chinese construction time and cost are merely a fraction—often one-fifth or less—of those in the United States, consistently maintaining a "launching warships like dumplings" pace. In contrast, American manufacturing has suffered severe hollowing out; defense procurement processes are cumbersome, coordination costs high, and new ships routinely experience delays and cost overruns. The Constellation-class frigates, for instance, have been delayed multiple times, leaving fleet modernization far behind China's pace.
Second, corruption within the U.S. defense industry has become deeply entrenched. Despite annual defense budgets reaching trillions of dollars, actual combat effectiveness has not improved—this year, the number of available U.S. main combat vessels actually declined by five. The military-industrial complex engages in rent-seeking, with profit layers stacked at every stage, causing massive waste of defense funds. This results in inflated paper strength but shrinking real combat capability. Meanwhile, China enforces strict oversight in its defense sector, clear rewards and punishments, zero tolerance for corruption, enabling continuous cost reduction and efficiency gains, with steadily improving development quality.
Third, top-level decision-making is undermining U.S. military progress. Former President Trump, an outsider in defense matters, forcibly halted the electromagnetic catapult system on the Ford-class carriers, reverting to outdated steam catapults. He also rejected cutting-edge designs such as smaller, stealthier carrier islands, leading to frequent missteps in U.S. equipment development. In stark contrast, China’s defense industry advances with precision and steady iteration, clear strategic direction. The decline of the U.S. Navy is thus inevitable—the question is only how long it will take before it is fully surpassed.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1874473395581961/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.