evidence: Unpacking China’s Naval Buildup [...] China Has the World’s Largest Navy China now possesses the world’s largest maritime fighting force, operating 234 warships to the U.S. Navy’s 219. This count of China’s fighting ships encompasses all of its known, active-duty manned, missile- or torpedo-armed ships or submarines displacing more than 1,000 metric tons, including the 22 missile-armed corvettes recently transferred to the China Coast Guard but not the approximately 80 missile-armed small patrol craft operated by the PLAN. The oft-cited count of about 290 U.S. Navy "battle force ships" includes combat logistics and support vessels, of which the U.S. Navy has 126, including those under the Military Sealift Command, and the PLAN 167, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.