This is the admission of impotence made by the American naval authorities, who seek to extend the operational life of its Ticonderoga cruisersand its first Burke destroyers, so as not to be left behind by the vitality of the Chinese naval industry.
While President Trump announced his desire to reduce the size of the US Navy to 355 ships, compared to 280 today, industrial reality seems to be bringing the American authorities back to a more realistic vision. Thus, the Secretary of the Navy had to admit that the objective of 355 would probably not be reached before 2052. At the same time, the US Navy is seeking to extend the operational life of its cruisers and destroyers, leading some to exceed 50 years.
These are the effects of 30 years of technical-industrial errors by the US naval industry, which has spent veritable fortunes on overly ambitious projects, without focusing on consolidating its bases. In fact, after having to suspend the sea programs Wolf (3 ships), Zumwalt (3 ships) and LCS (17 corvettes), the US Navy finds itself without a solution to take over from its 24 cruisers reaching the end of their run, and is forced to continue building A destroyers. Burke, while the first examples of this class entered service 40 years ago.
To catch up with the Chinese naval industry, which produces 2 to 4 new destroyers each year, as many frigates and 5 to 6 corvettes, to name only the surface combatant units, the US Navy had to urgently launch the FFG(X) program, calling in particular on European industries to offer rapid and economical solutions to strengthen its anti-submarine power and its escort capabilities.
However, the situation that appears today for the US Navy is not an isolated phenomenon, but the consequence of a deplorable industrial policy pursued for 40 years by the United States. So, the situation is the same for armored vehicles and battle tanks, and, of course, the fighter fleet. If the F-35 program, despite its price, was rushed out by the US Air Force, it will ossify the aeronautics industry for decades, having captured far too large credits, prohibiting any other program from emerging.
At the same time, China is taking an opposite dynamic, with 2 to 3 new hunting programs every 10 years. The series are certainly more limited, but the devices allow constant and controlled evolution of technological progression, making it possible to avoid too costly dead ends. In the coming years, China will present a new carrier-based stealth fighter, probably from the FC-31 Gyrfalcon, and a new stealth attack aircraft, intended to replace the JH-7. In around ten years the replacement for the J-10 light fighter should appear, which will integrate all of the technologies developed for the J-20 and the two other aforementioned stealth aircraft, so that China will have an economical stealth aircraft. and efficient. This was the original goal of the F-35..
It is clear that China will have achieved it, and not the United States.