[Poohbah]

With all the shipbuilding technology they're getting from South Korea & Japan & the electronic expertise they're getting from all their advanced trading partners, along with the huge expansion of their maritime facilities, they could conceivably acquire the world's second-biggest navy by 2020.

Ivan did the same thing. Fat lotta good it did him.

[Filibuster_60]

The Soviets never enjoyed the kind of massive trade with the developed world the Chinese have today. So they managed to build a "luxury fleet" centered on a bunch of SSBNs with poor electronics. It wasn't much of a navy by our standards but quite threatening at the regional level.