The US Navy has a problem: China is also developing a robotic fleet to increase its mass

Aware of the remarkable effectiveness of the plan to build up power applied by the naval forces of the People's Liberation Army, as well as by the Chinese naval industry, the US Navy has, for several years, developed a strategy based on on an imposing robotic fleet to fill the increasingly significant gap in terms of mass and capabilities with the Chinese Navy.

According to the Pentagon, this approach, although technologically complex, will make it possible to constitute a fleet of about 150 ships or robotic submarines by 2045, making it possible to bring the planned format of the US Navy to 450 buildings by this date, and thus to control the Chinese rise in force in this field.

However, and as we have already echoed, this strategy suffers from a major weakness, because it assumes that Beijing, for its part, does not develop a mirrored robotic fleet, so as to neutralize the expected advantage by the Pentagon.

It is however precisely the trajectory followed by the Chinese Navy, which for several years has been increasing technological advances in the field of robotic ships and submarines, including by being very openly inspired by American approaches.

This is particularly the case ofa 45 m and 200 ton naval demonstrator launched in 2019 and obviously very close to the experimental robotic ocean vessel SeaHunter of the US Navy, which last year carried out a first campaign of tests and trials deemed satisfactory by the Chinese general staff, although less in its official communication.

Other models have been tested, including the JARI presented in 2019, a much more compact vessel of 15 meters for only 20 tons, intended to provide coastal protection and port and coastal infrastructure.

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