China continues to expand Navy: report

China is actively expanding its Navy, aiming to have 415 ships, including four aircraft carriers, by 2030, the U.S. Defense News reported Saturday, citing a former United States Navy officer.

China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) will "continue to expand for the next 15 years," retired U.S. Navy Captain James Fanell was quoted as saying at a recent conference sponsored by the U.S. Naval War College 's China Maritime Studies Institute.

The PLAN will grow to include 99 submarines of all types, four aircraft carriers, 102 destroyers and frigates, 26 corvettes, 73 amphibious ships and 111 missile craft, said Fanell who retired earlier this year as the U.S. Pacific Fleet's director of intelligence and information.

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