New Books Examine Chinese Navy Philippine Defense Italian Battleships

摘要

During the 1970s and 1980s, books that described the organization, order of battle and technical capabilities of the Soviet Navy were in high demand by readers craving understanding of that closed society's military. It is no surprise that with the rise of China as a world power, analyses of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) would come forth to try to penetrate the opaqueness of Chinese naval power. The authors describe, in narrative form with tables, the current ships, aircraft, weapons and electronic systems of the PLAN in great detail while providing a historical perspective of the PLAN since its beginnings, and an assessment of the service's strengths and weaknesses.