In March 2008, the U.S. Department of Defense released its annual Report to Congress on the Military Power of the People's Republic of China. According to the report, DOD officials estimate that the People's Liberation Army Navy currently operates 74 principal combatants, 57 attack submarines, 55 medium and heavy amphibious ships, and 49 coastal missile patrol craft. The report states that two Type 093 SSNs and one Type 094 SSBN may enter service in the near future. Ten Song-class (Type 039) conventionally powered submarines are already in service while newer Yuan-class boats are in full production and can be expected in service by 2010. The report also highlights that seven large surface warships have been built domestically since 2006, including two each of the Type 052C and Type 051C guided-missile destroyers and three Type 054A guided-missile frigates. These new combatants join a number of increasingly advanced warships, including four Russian-built Sovremennyy-class destroyers, the newest of which, number 139, is shown here shortly after entering service in 2006.
This past January, France retired the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine L'Inflexible. The submarine, pictured here, first entered service in 1985 and was the sole surviving member of the six-boat Le Redoutable-class of SSBNs built during the 1970s and early 1980s. L'Inflexible had been the youngest of the class, each of which displaced 9,000 tons while submerged. Armed from the outset with M 4 submarine-launched ballistic missiles, the L'Inflexible was re-equipped in 2001 with more advanced M 45 missiles. Namesake of the class Le Redoutable was retired in 1991, while sister Le Terrible decommissioned in 1996, Le Foudroyant in 1998, Le Tonnant in 1999, and L'Indomptable in 2005. The Redoutables are being replaced by the far larger (14,000-ton submerged displacement) Le Triomphant-class. Le Terrible, the fourth and final unit of the new class is expected in service around 2010.
The Royal Omani Police force recently received its first new Mk V-PB(C) patrol boat, pictured here, following that vessel's successful completion of sea trials in January 2008. Ordered in mid-2005, the new class of patrol boats is being built by United States Marine in Gulfport, Mississippi, using Foreign Military Sales funding. The new vessels are based on the Mk V Pegasus Special Operations Craft, which were built during the 1990s and are in use by U.S. Navy Special Operations Forces. The enhanced Mk V-PB(C) variant entering service with Oman is larger than its U.S. Navy cousin, having been lengthened by eight feet to include a galley plus accommodations for up to 12 crew members, including three officer state rooms. Capable of traveling in excess of 50 knots, two additional units are now under construction for Oman though as many as ten more Mk V-PB(C) patrol boats may eventually enter Omani service.