A new article in Popular Science points to evidence that China is developing a so-called "arsenal ship," a large surface ship or submarine capable of carrying hundreds of missiles. Such a ship could allow the People's Liberation Army Navy to rapidly increase firepower without an investment in large numbers of expensive aircraft carriers, cruisers, and destroyers.
The U.S. developed the arsenal ship concept in the 1990s for the same kind of reason. Arsenal ships would be huge—based on supertanker or container ship hulls, and with a minimal crew. An arsenal ship would have hundreds if not thousands of Mark 41 vertical launch missile silos, each of which could carry a Tomahawk land attack cruise missile, SM-2 air defense missile, SM-3 ballistic missile interceptor, or future missile designs. A single ship could launch hundreds of cruise missiles against an enemy target, raining down destruction that was previously only possible by aircraft carriers.
The U.S. developed the arsenal ship concept in the 1990s for the same kind of reason. Arsenal ships would be huge—based on supertanker or container ship hulls, and with a minimal crew. An arsenal ship would have hundreds if not thousands of Mark 41 vertical launch missile silos, each of which could carry a Tomahawk land attack cruise missile, SM-2 air defense missile, SM-3 ballistic missile interceptor, or future missile designs. A single ship could launch hundreds of cruise missiles against an enemy target, raining down destruction that was previously only possible by aircraft carriers.
