[🇨🇳] Chinese Navy

[Saif]

Chinese nuclear-powered submarine sank this year, US official says

China’s newest nuclear-powered attack submarine sank earlier this year, a senior US defense official said on Thursday, a potential embarrassment for Beijing as it seeks to expand its military capabilities. China already has the largest navy in the world, with over 370 ships, and it has embar

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Chinese nuclear-powered submarine sank this year, US official says
REUTERS
Published :
Sep 27, 2024 18:35
Updated :
Sep 27, 2024 18:35

A series of satellite images from Planet Labs from June appear to show cranes at the Wuchang shipyard in Wuhan Shi, China, June 15, 2024. Photo : Planet Labs Inc/Handout via REUTERS

China’s newest nuclear-powered attack submarine sank earlier this year, a senior US defense official said on Thursday, a potential embarrassment for Beijing as it seeks to expand its military capabilities.

China already has the largest navy in the world, with over 370 ships, and it has embarked on production of a new generation of nuclear-armed submarines.

A senior US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said China’s new first-in-class nuclear-powered attack submarine sank alongside a pier sometime between May and June.

A Chinese embassy spokesperson in Washington said they had no information to provide.

“We are not familiar with the situation you mentioned and currently have no information to provide,” the Chinese official said.

The senior US official said it was not clear what caused it to sink or whether it had nuclear fuel on board at the time.

“In addition to the obvious questions about training standards and equipment quality, the incident raises deeper questions about the PLA’s internal accountability and oversight of China’s defense industry - which has long been plagued by corruption,” the official said, using an acronym for the People’s Liberation Army.

“It’s not surprising that the PLA Navy would try to conceal” the sinking, the official added.

The mishap “raises questions about production and safety standards of the PLA Navy’s first-in-class nuclear-powered attack submarine – one of the Chinese defence industry’s most advanced platforms,” said James Char, a China defence expert at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

“As well as sowing doubts about the survivability of the new submarine, it also reminds us of the potential pitfalls armed forces around the world may face when it comes to handling nuclear material.”

Speaking in Taipei on Friday, Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo said authorities “have a grasp of the situation through multiple intelligence and surveillance methods”, but did not elaborate.

Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, keeps a close watch on the latter’s military activities. In June, pictures appeared online of a Chinese nuclear submarine surfacing in the Taiwan Strait near Taiwan fishermen.

The Chinese submarine news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

A series of satellite images from Planet Labs from June appear to show cranes at the Wuchang shipyard, where the submarine would have been docked.

As of 2022, China had six nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, six nuclear-powered attack submarines and 48 diesel-powered attack submarines, according to a Pentagon report on China’s military. That submarine force is expected to grow to 65 by 2025 and 80 by 2035, the US Defense Department has said.

On Wednesday, China said it had successfully conducted a rare launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean, a move likely to raise international concerns about the country’s nuclear buildup.

The United States and China held theater-level commander talks for the first time earlier this month, amid efforts to stabilise military ties and avoid misunderstandings, especially in regional hot spots such as the South China Sea.​

 

[Saif]

https://asiatimes.com/2023/10/china-russia-in-a-nuclear-sub-counter-to-aukus/

China-Russia in a nuclear sub counter to AUKUS
China’s Type 096 nuclear submarine draws on Russian tech and expertise and once operational will bring US mainland into closer missile range
by Gabriel Honrada
October 23, 2023

China and Russia are cooperating on a next-generation nuclear submarine design. Image: Twitter Screengrab

China is making new quiet nuclear submarines with Russia’s expert assistance, an answer to the AUKUS alliance and the latest sign of the two powers’ converging strategic interests against the United States and its Pacific allies

The project could make it harder for the US and its allies to track China’s submarines in crucial theaters including the South China Sea and represents a direct challenge to US undersea dominance in the Pacific.

This month, Reuters reported that China is producing a new generation of nuclear-armed submarines, citing evidence that its Type 096 nuclear ballistic missile (SSBN) submarine will be operational before the end of the decade. The report said that breakthroughs in the submarine’s quietness have been aided partly by Russian technology.

Recent research discussed at a conference in May at the US Naval War College and published in August by the college’s China Maritime Studies Institute predicts the new Type 096 vessels will be far more challenging for the US and allies to monitor and track.

The research said the Type 096 submarine would compare to state-of-the-art Russian submarines regarding stealth, sensors and weapons and China’s undersea capability jump would have “profound” implications for the US and its Indo-Pacific allies.

It says the advanced Chinese SSBNs will significantly complicate an already intense subsurface surveillance battle, as tracking Chinese submarines is increasingly an international effort with the Japanese and Indian militaries assisting the US, UK and Australia.

Reuters says that the covert effort to track China’s nuclear attack submarines (SSN) and SSBNs is one of the core drivers of increased deployments and contingency planning by the US Navy and other militaries across the Indo-Pacific region.

It mentions that those efforts are expected to intensify when Type 096s enter service, as the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) is routinely staging fully armed nuclear deterrence patrols with its older Type 094 boats out of Hainan Island in the South China Sea, similar to the patrols operated for years by the US, UK, Russia and France.

The prospect of quieter Chinese SSBNs is driving, in part, the AUKUS deal among Australia, the UK and the US, which will see increased deployments of British and US attack submarines to Western Australia. Australia expects to launch its first nuclear-powered attack submarines with UK technology by the 2030s.

AUKUS alliance will arm Australia with nuclear submarines. Image: Twitter

The Type 096 SSBN is China’s next-generation underwater nuclear deterrent, representing a significant upgrade over the current Type 094 SSBN.

According to Missile Defense Advocacy (MDA), the Type 094 is primarily armed with the JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), which has a 7,200-kilometer range.

Matthew Funaiole and other writers mention in an August 2021 article for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank that to hit Hawaii and the northwestern US the older Type 094 must traverse critical chokepoints such as the Miyako Strait and Bashi Channel in the First Island Chain that comprises Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. Funaiole and others say the JL-2’s range deficiency and reported noisiness may expose it to US and allied anti-submarine forces.

However, Asia Times noted in November 2022 that the Type 094 is now armed with the newer JL-3 SLBM, sporting a 10,000-kilometer range that can conceivably hit the US mainland from protected bastions in the South China Sea.

The Type 094 has also undergone recent upgrades to increase its stealth and survivability. Minnie Chan notes in an October 2021 article for the South China Morning Post (SCMP) that the Type 094A and 094B subvariants have improved hull designs to reduce noise, such as a modified towed sonar array dispenser, reduced bow limber holes and new sail shape.

Despite those upgrades, China’s submarines still lag their US and Russian counterparts in terms of stealth. In a March 2023 article for the US Naval Institute, Mike Sweeney says that during the Cold War, the US and Soviet Union achieved “super-quieting” with their SSBNs and SSNs, with the US achieving it in the 1960s and the Soviets in the mid-1980s.

In comparison, Sweeney points out that China’s Type 093 SSN’s stealth is estimated to be on par with 1970 Soviet designs while its Type 094 SSBNs have noise levels similar to 40-year-old Soviet designs.

Ellie Cook notes in an article for Newsweek this month that China’s new Type 096 will likely be 150 meters long with a top speed of 33 knots and compare favorably with newer Russian SSBNs such as the Borei-class. Cook mentions that China may have up to eight operational SSBNs by 2030, including the Type 094 and Type 096, with the country currently operating four Type 094 SSBNs.

Russia may also be assisting China with its new Type 096 SSBN’s design, with the two sides “no limits” strategic partnership shifting in China’s favor as Russia becomes more and more dependent on Beijing’s assistance faced with the Western sanctions imposed over the Ukraine war.

In a September 2023 China Maritime Studies Institute report, Sarah Kirchberger asserts that China’s submarine industrial base suffers from weaknesses in submarine propulsion and quieting. Kirchberger notes that, since the 1970s, Russia has been assisting China to build its SSNs and SSBNs.

She mentions that Russia’s Rubin Design Bureau was reportedly heavily involved in the design of China’s Type 093 SSN in terms of hull design, instrumentation, acoustic stealth improvement and acoustic countermeasures. She also notes that Russia remains well ahead of China in crucial submarine technologies such as quieting and nuclear propulsion.

A Chinese nuclear-powered Type 094A Jin-class ballistic missile submarine takes part in a military display in the South China Sea. Photo: Handout

The Type 096 may have design parallels with Russia’s next-generation SSBN. In August 2022, Asia Times reported about Russia’s Arcturus SSBN concept, which features sonar-deflecting shaping, new anti-echoic coating, a shaftless power plant and pump jet propulsion. The Arcturus comes armed with next-generation Russian SLBMs and underwater drones.

Kirchberger argues that Russia’s underfunded submarine design bureaus and industries are at risk of a brain drain to China, with the Russian government moving to stop that possibility by entering into joint production with China.

She notes that Russia could supply critical technologies such as nuclear propulsion, quieting, and hydrodynamic hull design. At the same time, she says China’s massive naval shipbuilding capacity can provide mass production capability and economies of scale.

Kirchberger notes that Russia’s state-owned nuclear company Rosatom supplied 6,477 kilos of highly enriched uranium (HEU) to China’s CFR-600 reactor on Changbiao Island in December 2022, an amount that analysts project could make 50 nuclear warheads yearly. She says that apart from nuclear weapons the HEU could also be used as fuel for China’s nuclear submarines.​

 

[Krishna with Flute]

The People's Liberation Army Navy(also known as People's Navy, Chinese Navy, or PLA Navy) is the maritime service branch of the People's Liberation Army, and the largest navy per number of ships in the world.

The PLAN traces its lineage to naval units fighting during the Chinese Civil War and was established on 23 April 1949.

Until the late 1980s, the PLAN was largely a riverine and littoral force (brown-water navy). In the 1990s, following the fall of the Soviet Union and a shift towards a more forward-oriented foreign and security policy, the leaders of the Chinese military were freed from worrying overland border disputes. Traditionally subordinated to the PLA Ground Force, PLAN leaders were now able to advocate for renewed attention toward the seas.

Chinese military officials have outlined plans to operate in the first and second island chains, and have worked towards blue water capability.[8] Chinese strategists talk about the development of the PLAN from a green-water navy into "a regional blue-water defensive and offensive navy."[9] As the PLAN has expanded into a blue-water navy, regular exercises and naval patrols have increased in the South China Sea within the Nine-dash line, the Senkaku Islands/Diaoyutai in the East China Sea, and the island of Taiwan, which it all claims as its territory.

The People's Republic of China (PRC) along with the Republic of China (ROC), Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines claims a significant amount of maritime boundary located within the South China Sea. Some exercises and patrols of the PLA NAVY in recent years went as close as the coastline of Japan, Taiwan, and Alaska within their EEZ although undisputed territorial waters have been not been crossed except in cases of innocent passage.

A huge navy but lacks the blue water capabilities. Their aircraft carriers can not go high sea far away from shore to perform operations. Their DF21D more hyped than successfully tested. One Russian expert had said that China will loose 40% of of ite naval fleet in trying to sink one aircraft carrier US. India has tested HGV which is nothing but a variant of India's LRASM missile which is being made to target Chinese ship in south China sea. China is building numbers rapidly but it is far away from being a blue water navy or an effective naval power in Indian Ocean.

 

[Bilal9]

A huge navy but lacks the blue water capabilities. Their aircraft carriers can not go high sea far away from shore to perform operations. Their DF21D more hyped than successfully tested. One Russian expert had said that China will loose 40% of of ite naval fleet in trying to sink one aircraft carrier US. India has tested HGV which is nothing but a variant of India's LRASM missile which is being made to target Chinese ship in south China sea. China is building numbers rapidly but it is far away from being a blue water navy or an effective naval power in Indian Ocean.

Are you sure?

They have destroyers, quite a few (more in number than the Indian Navy).

China has approximately 42 destroyers in its navy, while India operates 12 guided-missile destroyers. The Chinese navy is rapidly expanding, which contributes to a significant numerical advantage over India's destroyer fleet.

In fact they are rivaling the US right now.

Unpacking China’s Naval Buildup

Already the world's largest navy, the People's Liberation Army Navy is positioned to overtake the U.S. Navy in several indicators of naval power within ten years.

www.csis.org

 

[Krishna with Flute]

Are you sure?

They have destroyers, quite a few (more in number than the Indian Navy).

China has approximately 42 destroyers in its navy, while India operates 12 guided-missile destroyers. The Chinese navy is rapidly expanding, which contributes to a significant numerical advantage over India's destroyer fleet.

In fact they are rivaling the US right now.

Unpacking China’s Naval Buildup

Already the world's largest navy, the People's Liberation Army Navy is positioned to overtake the U.S. Navy in several indicators of naval power within ten years.

www.csis.org

I agree.

They are No 1 in number. However, so far as sophistication is concerned, we are far ahead. Our destroyers have world's best attack and defence missiles. Brahmos and MRSAM are best in class. Our destroyers have torpedo decoy, best in class radar mounted high to track sea skimming missiles. Our air defence missiles can stop a sea skimming missiles just a half k.m. away. We are far ahead in missile technology compared to China.We have just tested ram jet powered 340 k.m. BVR .

 

[Saif]

China's navy commissions new-generation frigate as competition rises with US and others

China's navy has commissioned a new-generation frigate as competition rises with the US and other regional powers, saying the ship will "play a vital role in enhancing the overall combat effectiveness" of its forces. China already has the world's largest navy in terms of number of hulls, although

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

China's navy commissions new-generation frigate as competition rises with US and others
AP
Published :
Jan 22, 2025 17:49
Updated :
Jan 22, 2025 17:49

China's navy has commissioned a new-generation frigate as competition rises with the US and other regional powers, saying the ship will "play a vital role in enhancing the overall combat effectiveness" of its forces.

China already has the world's largest navy in terms of number of hulls, although its technology is sometimes seen as lagging. Its largest competitor, the US, has warned its Navy could be outnumbered and has called for a building program as well as reforms to put damaged ships into action sooner.

China's People's Liberation Army Navy operates mainly in waters off the Chinese east coast and in the huge and strategically crucial South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety. A key mission also remains backing up the army in any attack on Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy about 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the Chinese coast that Beijing has vowed to annex by force if necessary.

The first Type 054B frigate, christened the Luohe, was commissioned Wednesday in Qingdao, a port city in northern China where the PLAN's northern fleet is based.

The ship has a displacement of approximately 5,000 tons and includes stealth technology, combat command systems and firepower integration, "significantly enhancing overall performance," the navy said.

"With strong capabilities for comprehensive combat operations and diverse military missions, the warship will play a vital role in enhancing the overall combat effectiveness of naval task forces," it added.

The Luohe's armaments include a variety of machine guns for close combat and anti-air and anti-ship missiles, according to defense publications, some of which say the ship could become the backbone of the Chinese navy.

The statement said nothing about future 054Bs, but at least two more are believed to have been launched and another is under construction. China has around 234 warships compared to the US Navy's 219, including around 50 frigates and the same number of destroyers. China has two operating aircraft carriers and another undergoing sea trials, along with a massive and powerful coast guard.

Recent wargames have shown China would lose many more vessels in a simulated clash with the US, but would be able to absorb the losses and continue fighting.

The PLAN has also sent ships further abroad including the Mediterranean Sea and the Caribbean in its attempts to use its navy as an extension of its growing economic and diplomatic clout. PLAN and Chinese coast guard ships have also patrolled in the East China Sea, where China claims a group of uninhabited islands controlled by Japan. While planes and ships from both sides have come into contact, no shots have been fired during such incidents.

The US and other nations have deliberately sailed close to islands, some of them human-made, to challenge China's claim to them. Beijing has ignored a UN-backed court's ruling that threw out most of China's territorial claims.​

 

[Saif]

China accuses Australia of ‘hyping’ naval drills

Beijing on Sunday said Canberra had ‘deliberately hyped’ recent Chinese naval exercises near the Australian coast and confirmed its forces had used live fire in an incident that rattled Australian policymakers.

www.newagebd.net

China accuses Australia of ‘hyping’ naval drills
Agence France-Presse . Beijing, China 23 February, 2025, 22:20

Beijing on Sunday said Canberra had ‘deliberately hyped’ recent Chinese naval exercises near the Australian coast and confirmed its forces had used live fire in an incident that rattled Australian policymakers.

Authorities in Australia and close ally New Zealand have been monitoring three Chinese navy vessels spotted in recent days in international waters of the nearby Tasman Sea.

Canberra said Saturday it had not yet received a satisfactory explanation from Beijing for Friday’s drill, which saw the Chinese ships broadcast a live-fire warning that caused commercial planes to change course.

China’s defence ministry hit back on Sunday, saying the ‘relevant remarks of the Australian side are completely inconsistent with facts’, while also confirming the use of live ammunition.

‘During the period, China organised live-fire training of naval guns toward the sea on the basis of repeatedly issuing prior safety notices,’ Wu Qian, a spokesman for the defence ministry, said in a statement.

Wu added that China’s actions were ‘in full compliance with international law and international practices, with no impact on aviation flight safety’.

‘Australia, while well aware of this, made unreasonable accusations against China and deliberately hyped it up,’ said Wu, adding that Beijing was ‘astonished and strongly dissatisfied’.

The altercation threatens to complicate the relationship between Beijing and Canberra, which has gradually warmed under Australia’s Labor government.

Ties were derailed nearly a decade ago due to concerns in Australia about Chinese influence in local politics, followed by a 2018 ban on tech giant Huawei from Australia’s 5G network.

Earlier this month, Canberra rebuked Beijing for ‘unsafe’ military conduct, accusing a Chinese fighter jet of dropping flares near an Australian air force plane patrolling the South China Sea.

China said at the time that the Australian plane had ‘deliberately intruded into the airspace around China’s Xisha Islands’, using Beijing’s name for the Paracel Islands, adding that its ‘measures to expel the aircraft were legitimate, legal, professional and restrained’.​

 

[Bilal9]

China is working on an enormous aircraft carrier that rivals the biggest in the U.S. fleet, analysts say​

Story by Matthew Bodner
• 6d•

China is working on an enormous aircraft carrier that rivals the biggest in the U.S. fleet, analysts say

Images suggest a new ship design unlike anything now in China's navy, five analysts told NBC News.

www.nbcnews.com

It already has the world’s largest navy, but new satellite imagery shows that China is developing a huge nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that would rival the biggest vessel in the American fleet, five analysts told NBC News after studying new satellite imagery.

The images of China’s Dalian shipbuilding facility in northeast China suggest that the new ship will allow fighter jets to be launched from four parts of the flight deck, leading analysts to conclude that the images suggest a new ship design — unlike anything now in the Chinese fleet.

The analysts made the assessment after examining images provided to NBC News by Maxar Technologies, a defense contractor headquartered in Colorado used by the U.S. government.

China’s three current aircraft carriers have the capacity to launch jets from only three parts on the front and the waist, or center, on the deck. Its latest supercarrier, the recently launched Fujian, a Type 003, has three electromagnetic catapult launching systems to propel fighter jets, said Michael Duitsman, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, a California-based nongovernment organization devoted to curbing the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

The United States has 11 supercarriers that can launch from four places.

“We think this is them testing equipment and layouts for the upcoming Type 04 carrier,” Duitsman said in a video call this week.

The general consensus, he said, is" that the new carrier will have four catapults,” which would allow more planes to take off and match U.S. carriers like the USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy's largest and most advanced aircraft carrier. To accommodate four catapults, the ship will need to be larger than the Fujian, matching American tonnage and powered by a nuclear reactor.

The satellite images of China’s Dalian shipbuilding facility in northeast China show an engineering prototype of a module with two tracks, or trenches.

These tracks “obviously are related to catapults,” said H.I Sutton, an independent naval analyst based in the U.K. “But this is not the actual carrier under construction. Instead what it suggests is that the yard is gearing up to produce carriers,” he said in a telephone interview last week.

Snow reveals two tracks for an aircraft catapult during assembly at the Dalian Shipyard in Liaoning, China, on Dec. 12, 2023.© Maxar Technologies

China has not acknowledged it is developing a new supercarrier, and Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the embassy in Washington, had no comment when asked about the new design. He said that the country’s national defense policy is “purely defensive in nature.”

The United States has nonetheless made no secret that it sees China as a priority. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told NATO leaders this month that they should take up more of the security burden in Europe to free up American firepower.

He said the United States faced a “peer competitor in the communist Chinese, with the capability and intent to threaten our homeland and core national interests in the Indo-Pacific.” He added that the United States was “prioritizing deterring war with China in the Pacific.”

Duitsman said it was not unusual to see the Chinese build experimental sections of a new ship before committing to final construction, and similar efforts were seen years before the keel was laid for the Fujian, the first carrier to be designed entirely in China.

The two tracks seen in the latest satellite images run at convergent angles, matching the general configuration of American supercarriers that have four electromagnetic catapults — two running parallel on the bow and two on the waist, the analysts concluded. Because of space constraints on the flight deck they do not run parallel, but converge.

One reason this particular section of a presumed Type 004 carrier would warrant prototype builds is the electromagnetic catapults themselves, according to Seth Hosford, another researcher at the James Martin Center.

First deployed by the United States on the Ford-class carriers, these catapults are attached to a plane’s nose, rapidly propelling it forward and allowing it to take off. This is achieved essentially with large magnets, as opposed to steam pistons used on older American carriers.

The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier.© U.S. Navy via Getty Images file

The Fujian uses this technology for its two bow-mounted catapults, but those are spaced quite far apart and Hosford said that the magnetic fields from those two catapults are less likely to interfere with each other.

The module seen in Dalian has the two tracks quite close together, and Hosford said that “if you have the electromagnetic catapults essentially intersecting, you could run into all sorts of issues.”

The satellite photos out of Dalian are not the first signs that China is moving toward building a nuclear-powered supercarrier to rival those fielded by the United States.

In November, a group of analysts at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, which the James Martin Center is part of, published satellite evidence that China has already built a prototype naval reactor for a large surface warship. In the modern age, only supercarriers warrant such a power system.

China itself has made no secret of its ambitions for a so-called blue-water navy to rival the United States and has been pursuing carrier development for several years.

After refurbishing and then building a copy of the Varyag, a former Soviet carrier China purchased from Ukraine, China built the Fujian, a large carrier that is just below supercarrier class in size and armament but features many of the trappings of the United States' nuclear-powered supercarriers.

Ni Lexiong, a Shanghai-based military analyst, said Friday that the country “should have no problem striving for one or two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers,” although he questioned whether it was still necessary in the era of artificial intelligence. “Unmanned aircraft carriers with a focus on drone attacks may become the main weapon of the future navy,” he said.

Liu, the Chinese Embassy spokesperson, insisted his country would “never engage in aggression and expansion, but we will never give up our legitimate rights and interests, and we will resolutely counter all threats and challenges.”

“China has always adhered to the strategy of self-defense and does not engage in arms race with any other country,” he said, adding that it had “always taken concrete actions to safeguard world peace and inject stability and certainty into the world.”