Crimson tide: comparing Chinese naval expansion with existing naval powers

Download
Author
Guiremand, Erik M.
Date
2016-09Advisor
Twomey, Christopher
Second Reader
Moran, Daniel
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
As China continues its comprehensive military modernization program, the 2015 Annual Report to Congress on Military and Security Developments Involving the PRC, published by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, has expressed concerns that China's military modernization has the potential to reduce core U.S. military technological advantages. In order to put this concern into a broader context, this thesis asks: how does China's navy compare to navies of existing powers? With China's naval expansion in mind, this thesis compares the People's Liberation Army (Navy) (PLAN) to other modern naval powers to determine if China's force structure resembles a regional navy that is built primarily for power projection, sea denial, or sea line of communications (SLOC) defense. Comparative case studies are used to contextualize China's naval modernization by identifying characteristics of archetypal navies built for sea denial, power projection, and SLOC defense. The Royal Swedish Navy is analyzed as a navy that specializes in sea denial, the French Navy is analyzed as a navy that specializes in power projection, and the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force is analyzed as a navy that specializes in SLOC defense. This thesis finds that China is primarily pursuing a maritime strategy centered on SLOC defense, but is also capable of employing a sea denial strategy in its near seas.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
The Enemy’s Access Denial System: Potential Competitor Exploitation of U. S. Military Vulnerabilities.
Harney, Robert C. (Monterey, California: Institute for Joint Warfare Analysis, Naval Postgraduate School, 2000-12); NPS-JW-01-014As part of an experimental approach to “red teaming” that is studying the problem of enemy access denial systems, the author performed a detailed investigation of the vulnerabilities of the U. S. military’s power projection ... -
A Conversation with Dr. Douglas Porch: Relooking French Encounters in Irregular Warfare in the 19th Century
Few, Michael (Small Wars Journal, 2010-12-14);To complement the recent interviews conducted by Octavian Manea, we reached out to the defense analysts experts at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. In the first interview of this series, Dr. John Arquilla ... -
A MODERN GREAT WALL: PRC SMART CITIES AND THE A2/AD IMPLICATIONS FOR AFSOC
Bowman, John D. (Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School, 2022-06);The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) proliferation of smart cities—integrated, government-controlled urban surveillance networks—has increased the persistent stare of surveillance technologies globally. While the place ...