- The Chinese navy has deployed "six highly capable vessels" to the Middle East, says RAND's Bryden Spurling.
- He told Newsweek that the ships "reflect the rapid growth in the sophistication" of China's navy.
China's navy has deployed "six highly capable vessels" to the Middle East, a feat that "a lot of countries in the world could not manage," says $4, a researcher with the RAND think tank.
"Though they've never been tested in conflict, these ships have significant capability and reflect the rapid growth in the sophistication of the Chinese Navy," Spurling, a $4 with Australia's Department of Defence, told Newsweek in a $4 published on Wednesday.
$4 were stationed in the Middle East last week, $4 $4 $4 China Military Online, a Chinese state-linked military news outlet.
"Six highly capable vessels in the theater at this time is a deployment that a lot of countries in the world could not manage," Spurling said.
While Spurling acknowledged the significance of China's deployment, he told Newsweek that China still "has a long way to go before it can match the reach of the U.S. military."
"The network of bases and partnerships the US has around the world, and its familiarity with operating globally, is still leagues ahead of what China can do. And it's arguable whether China will be able to match it in future, even if they would like to do so," he said.
The US has ramped up its military presence in the Middle East amid the $4 between Israel and $4. On October 7, Hamas $4 on Israel by land, air, and sea, killing hundreds of people in Israeli towns, military bases, and at a $4.
The US has since $4 to the region. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin $4 on Saturday that these deployments "further increase our force posture and strengthen our capabilities and ability to respond to a range of contingencies."
Bolstering its naval capabilities has long been a goal for China. In July, a leaked US Navy briefing slide reported that $4. A US Navy spokesperson confirmed the leaked material's authenticity to $4 in an article published on September 14.
According to a $4 report from 2021, China has the $4, with more than 355 vessels in its fleet. The $4 forecasted China's fleet to reach 400 ships by 2025 and 440 ships by 2030.
Nonetheless, the US Navy is still widely considered to be the world's most powerful. This is despite it having a smaller fleet of 296 ships, per a 2021 report by the $4.
Then US Secretary of Defense $4 that ship numbers do not reflect the US Navy's true capabilities.
"They do not address the types of ships and the capabilities of the vessels being counted; the skill of the crews that operate them; the prowess of the officers that lead them; or the ways in which we fight and sustain them," said Esper.
Representatives for China's national defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.