China's Military Advancements

China has made significant strides in modernizing its military capabilities, particularly in the naval domain. The Chinese navy has become the largest in the world and is now producing high-quality warships that match or even exceed those of the United States in terms of design and combat capabilities. A notable metric is the vertical launch system cells, where the gap between the U.S. and Chinese fleets has shrunk dramatically from a ratio of over 200 to 1 in 2004 to nearly 2 to 1 recently, with projections indicating that China may surpass the U.S. by 2027. This shift signifies a transition from quantity to quality in China's naval approach.