China has about 70 conventional submarines on active duty as well as two new nuclear submarines that no longer carry a “turtle-back” design, an annual report published by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research said.
The capabilities of the two new nuclear submarines — the Type 095 and Type 096 — match those used by the US and Russia, the institute’s 2023 Assessment Report of the Chinese Communist Partys’ (CCP) Government and Military Development said.
The analysis of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) combat capabilities conducted by retired Republic of China Navy captain Chiang Shin-biao (江炘杓) offered a different assessment from the US Department of Defense’s report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China, published last year. The US report said that China has about 60 submarines, including six ballistic missile nuclear submarines, six nuclear-powered attack submarines and 48 submarines powered by diesel or air-independent propulsion (AIP), also known as hunter-killer submarines.
Photo: Reuters
However, it warned, that China would have 65 submarines in its fleet by next year, and the number could increase to 80 by 2035.
Chiang said the US report gave a relatively conservative estimate based on the existing intelligence.
“However, the Nuclear Threat initiative, a US non-profit organization, had said its data collected in 2020 showed that China had 65 to 70 submarines. Supposing that China can build two submarines per year and retire some annually, it should have about 70 submarines in its fleet. The number could reach 76 by 2030,” he said.
China’s navy uses mainly diesel-powered or AIP-powered submarines for offshore defense, such as the Type 039C submarine, which has a full load displacement of about 3,600 tonnes, a diving depth of more than 300m and a maximum submersible speed of about 22 knots (40.74kph), Chiang said.
The submarine can carry 12 torpedoes and six submarine-launched missiles, he said, adding that it could be mass-produced as it is a well-developed technology and has better silent effects and stronger strike effectiveness.
The PLAN now has one Type 095 nuclear-powered attack submarine on active duty, Chiang said. The nuclear submarine’s maximum diving depth is 500m and has a self-sustaining capability of about 90 days, he said.
It can carry 24 torpedoes and 16 vertical launch units and is equipped with YJ-18 anti-ship missiles, CJ-10 land attack cruise missiles and HQ-10 anti-aircraft missiles, he added.
Aside from having one Type 092 and six Type 094 ballistic missile nuclear submarines, the PLAN is building a Type O96 submarine, Chiang said.
The displacement of the third-generation submarine is expected to be enlarged to 15,000 tonnes, and is equipped with 24 JL-3 ballistic missiles and YJ-18 series anti-ship missiles, he said. “The new nuclear submarine not only can carry out nuclear counter attacks against the enemy, but also attack the enemy’s fleet on the sea surface from a long distance. It has a deterrent effect on an enemy’s carrier strike group and establishes favorable conditions for ‘anti-access/area denial’ military strategies,” Chiang said, adding that a sizable fleet using Type 096 submarines might be formed by 2030.
While the US Navy has said the Chinese Navy’s expanding submarine fleet has yet to pose a challenge, Chiang said the Type 094 and other models of previous ballistic missile nuclear submarines had the problem of an overly large “turtle back” configuration for submarine-launched missiles. “However, as China’s submarine-launched missile miniaturization technology improves, these two new nuclear submarines will completely rid Chinese nuclear submarines of being nicknamed ‘undersea tractors,’ and their performance will also be improved, keeping pace with the US and Russia,” he said.
Taiwan’s Admiral Huang Shu-kuang (黃曙光), who heads Taiwan’s indigenous defense submarine program, said he hopes the nation has three combat-ready submarines by next year and four by 2027.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
RSS