A Chinese research team claims to have used an AI program to design a warship’s electrical system in a day – a task that takes a team of humans with advanced computer tools nearly a year.
A study published in the Chinese journal Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems last month said the AI designer completed all tasks with 100% accuracy, quickly solving complex design problems.
China’s Ship Design and Research Center said the AI navigated more than 400 challenging design tasks flawlessly, prompting lead engineer Luo Wei to say the program was “ready for marine applications.” ‘engineering’ in China’s shipbuilding industry to accelerate the manufacturing speed of warships.
The shocking news comes just weeks after the US Navy Secretary warned that China’s naval fleet had overtaken America’s in size and was growing faster than US manufacturers had the capacity. to equal.
Additionally, Wei’s team told the newspaper that ship design rather than manufacturing capacity was the key factor limiting new ship production, according to the South China Morning Post, suggesting that AI design programs could significantly boost China’s naval development.
A Chinese warship takes part in exercises in the Arabian Sea near Karachi, Pakistan on February 13. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy now has about 340 ships.
The navies of China and the United States differ significantly, but Chinese production of new ships exceeds that of the United States
The Chinese aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, is pictured on the right
“It’s no secret that the People’s Republic of China seeks to overthrow our dominance over the world’s oceans,” said Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro speaking at the National Press Club in Washington DC last month.
Del Toro said the Chinese Navy had recently added more than 100 fighters to its fleet, calling it “a naval buildup that is a key part of its increasingly aggressive military posture on a global scale.”
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy now has about 340 ships, according to Del Toro. The US Navy says its fleet has “more than 290 ready-to-deploy ships”, and while the exact number is unclear, it is less than 300.
Del Toro said China plans to field a fleet of 440 ships by 2030, far exceeding the Pentagon’s stated goal of having 350 manned ships by 2045.
In recent years, China has become increasingly aggressive in the South China Sea, a vast stretch of ocean that China claims as its own, although that claim is not recognized by international law.
‘China’s disregard for the rules-based international order is particularly troubling in the maritime realm, from the Taiwan Strait to the high seas,” Del Toro said.
“The values defended by the Chinese Communist Party are incompatible with individual freedom, with democracy and with respect for human rights,” he added.
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro (right) has sounded the alarm that China’s naval fleet is overtaking that of the United States in number of ships and growing faster than the United States has the current capacity to match
The American Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) is seen in a file photo
The size of the US Navy’s fleet is not expected to reach 350 until the 2040s, according to the Navy’s latest projections, seen in a CBO report released Wednesday.
The CBO documents detail the Navy’s shipbuilding plans over the next few years. The fleet will likely shrink before it grows as old ships are decommissioned
The Navy Secretary claimed in remarks to reporters that China’s shipbuilding capacity far exceeds that of the United States, saying China has 13 shipyards, including one that has a shipbuilding capacity greater than all the American shipyards combined.
The United States maintains a powerful advantage in aircraft carriers, with 11 for the navy against three for China. China also reportedly struggled to train enough carrier-based fighter pilots to properly equip its carriers.
However, experts say that in large-scale naval warfare, the largest overall fleet almost always has a decisive advantage.
Sam Tangredi, Leidos Professor of Future Warfare Studies at the US Naval War College and a former captain in the US Navy, issued such a warning in the January issue of US Naval Institute Proceedings magazine.
His analysis of 25 historical naval wars found that the side with the largest fleet won in all but three cases.
“In a war between equally competent near-tech peers – absent a series of incredible flukes – the greater fleet has always won,” he wrote.
