China has increased its production of nuclear submarines over the past five years to the point where it is launching new ones faster than the United States, which threatens to change the balance of power in its navy, warn the authors of the IISS report. Over the past five years, China has launched seven to ten submarines (Beijing does not provide exact figures). This is a marked change from the 2016-2020 period, when China added only three submarines to its fleet.
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The US advantage over China may decrease
The US still has a big advantage in this area. As of the beginning of 2025, they had a total of 65 submarines, of which 14 were missile boats. In turn, China had 12 active nuclear-powered submarines at the same time, plus several missile boats.. As the authors of the report point out, China also maintains a fairly large fleet of conventionally powered submarines (46 pieces), while all US ships are nuclear-powered, which means they do not need to be refueled regularly. However, China is also developing its capabilities in this respect – it has expanded the Huludao shipyard in the northern part of the country especially for this purpose – CNN reports.
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Meanwhile, Washington, as CNN writes, “cannot keep up” with the pace set by Beijing. As of 2022, it has not met its intended goal of building two submarines per year. Additionally, U.S. naval resources may shrink over the next five years as aging submarines are retired.. According to a report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the number of American attack submarines will reach a low of 47 in 2030.
The authors of the report warn that such a situation “may lead to a period of increased operational burden on SSN forces [okręty podwodne napędzane nuklearnie]and perhaps also to weaken conventional deterrence against potential adversaries such as China.
