Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty
The vaunted fleet of the U.S. Navy may not be ready for a conflict with China.
A recent analysis found that the U.S. would likely lose a vast number of ships in a war with China over Taiwan, thanks to a narrowing technological advantage. And experts say the U.S. fleet of over 490 ships is also losing its edge in numbers compared to China’s fleet of 661 vessels.
“We are nowhere near adequately prepared,” said William Toti, who led the Navy’s anti-submarine China strategy before his retirement. “I fear that we’ve awakened a sleeping giant. They have more ships than we do. They have more industrial capacity than we do.”