[SonicScrub]

Worth noting that while China has a larger navy in terms of number of ships, the US Navy is larger in terms of tonnage, and most critically has more aircraft carrier task forces.

I am aware that there are still some unanswered questions regarding the role / effectiveness of aircraft carriers in a world of hypersonic anti ship missiles. But it's still some important context for that stat. These questions probably will not be answered unless a peer conflict occurs (which we can only hope never happens).

[dragonwriter]

> Worth noting that while China has a larger navy in terms of number of ships, the US Navy is larger in terms of tonnage, and most critically has more aircraft carrier task forces.

China needs carriers if it is going to fight the US over, say, Puerto Rico.

It doesn’t need them to fight the US over Taiwan. Mainland China (well, the parts close to Taiwan, at any rate) is one big, unsinkable, aircraft carrier for that war.

OTOH, they do need amphibious assault ships, but they have lots of them (slightly fewer than the US does.)

[standing_user]

You don't need larger ships if you are so close to the theaters involved Also, big tonnage means a bigger target for cheaper and deadly weapons

[klooney]

How useful is that tonnage going to be after the first salvo? It's been a long time since "submarines or targets" and China has invested heavily in missile development.