The US navy might not have the largest number of ships in the navy of any nation, but it is firmly established as the greatest force in the global maritime domain. The navy has six fleets covering various parts of the globe, and maintains over a dozen permanent installations beyond U.S. borders, including several locations in Italy and Japan. For its U.S. naval component, the U.S. Navy boasts a surface fleet consisting of 11 carriers, 92 cruisers, and destroyers, as well as 59 smaller surface combatants and operational logistics ships. Thus, the U.S. maintains a surface fleet of approximately 162 ships depending on inclusion of its small combatants and combat logistics ships, and a submarine fleet of 68 platforms.
Based on publicly available reports collected for this listing, approximately 430 vessels are believed to be either active duty, in reserve, or in the process of being built by the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Navy has about 495 ships both active in service and on the reserve inventory, and about another 85 ships either at the design and ordering stages or in construction, according to Naval Vessel Inventory records and published reports. A U.S. Navy 30-year shipbuilding plan released in 2020 has the service reaching a fleet size of 355 ships by 2049. Since December 2016, The U.S. Navy has been calling for at least 355 ships, up from the current total battle-force strength of less than 300.
The current 297-ship battle-force Navy and accelerating operational pace combine to put Navys. At best, the Navy estimates that it can sustain only 300-305 ships in the Navys operational fleet. To achieve its stated goals for fleet size, the Navy will need to construct and maintain ships. In the Defense Departments annual China report released last year, it said that the PLAN has over 300 surface combatants, submarines, amphibious ships, patrol boats, and other specialized vessels.
Most of Chinas naval forces are made up of smaller, coastal patrol ships and frigates, so while Chinas numbers are a bit larger, seven of its active vessels greatly exceed its strength. While the Chinese navys size, assertive posture, and fast-paced development are all mentioned by some American military leaders as the main reasons why Americas Navy needs to increase in size and further invest in the Indo-Pacific, PLAN naval forces are still behind Americas forces in a few key areas. In fact, the United States Office of Naval Intelligence has confirmed that the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has outperformed the United States Navy in overall combat-capable ships, about 360 to 297, and future projections project the gap will widen. Citing the Office of Naval Intelligence, a March report from the Congressional Research Service noted that the Peoples Liberation Army Navy, or PLAN, is expected to have 360 combat-capable ships by the end of 2020, eclipsing the US Navys 297-ship navy.