JOIN USIndia and China will order 100 new naval ships and submarines each by 2032 due to changing global security environment and increasing reliance on the sea for trade in the strategic region, according to a US-based naval consultancy.
The new orders would include nuclear and conventional submarines and new aircraft carriers, a balanced mix of destroyers, frigates, smaller units, amphibious and logistics vessels, Coast Guard and maritime patrol forces, said Bob Nugent, the vice-president of AMI International.
The two countries combined would account for 30 by volume and 45 per cent by value of the 1048 naval vessels, worth about USD 200 billion, to be ordered by the Asia Pacific countries in next 20 years, he said.
"We see the Asia Pacific market as about USD 200 billion worth of new ships and submarines," he said. The region has become second to the US.
"The Asia Pacific submarine investment is significant, with 100 to be ordered over 20 years, making it the single region buying more submarines than anywhere else in the world," Nugent told a press conference of the International Maritime Defence Exhibition & Conference to be held here on May 14-16.
Comparatively, the US was projected to order 453 naval vessels, or about 14 per cent of the global orders, between 2012 and 2032.
South Korea, Japan and Australia were expected to acquire 220 new vessels worth USD 62 billion during the next 20 years. Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam were also active in the market with the new ship and submarine acquisition programmes.