NEWS: China Launches New Class of Nuclear Ballistic Missile Sub

China has official launched a new class of ballistic missile submarines (SSBN). While not yet operational, the Type 094 submarine would represent the first SSBN with the capacity to hit the continental United States. The launch of the ship coincides with the development of the JL-2 submarine launched ballistic missile which has a range of 4600 miles. The previous SSBN, the Xia class, numbered only one and U.S. intelligence does not believe that it is currently operational.




One operational China will join the United States, France, Russia and the United Kingdom as having SSBN that can strike distant targets. This could be a coming sign that the PLAAN and the communist leadership of China is bent on using their growing trade surplus to finance an expansion into having a true blue water navy. It remains to be seen how effective the sub will be when it faces off against Australia, Japan, and the U.S. in the Pacific. All three nations are very good at ASW and Japan recently spanked a PLAAN nuclear sub that violated its territorial waters.

[edit on 12/3/04 by FredT]

if they can launch a large SSBN so early like this, it makes you wonder if maybe the reports that were going out a while ago about them starting a CV are true...

How long did it take them to build it? How much did it cost? How long is its life expectancy?

Also, It seem that the US Intel agency always underestimates things, from the delivery date of this sub to the Iranian Shahab-3's range, which they were hundreds of miles off of its actual range, If anything I think they should overesimate things, that way its not a big suprise when it comes out.

www.fas.org...

a bit of vauge info, not sure but just found it browsing

The beginning of a new "cold war" maybe? Do you think Japan will be next in developing a nuclear arsenal, Fred?

Originally posted by Mephorium
The beginning of a new "cold war" maybe? Do you think Japan will be next in developing a nuclear arsenal, Fred?

I doubt that Japan will look to nuclear anything anytime soon. Our relationship with Japan is our best perhaps after Britain. Our Pacific fleet should be able to take care of business. The question is, how quiet and how advanced is this sub? Brutal goverment that they may be they can and have built good hardware and the Russians who were catching up have sold technology like it was water.

I was surprised to see that their GDP was about 3 trillion shy of ours. I even heard by a fellow member that it could even grow to 7 trillion. It seems, if this trend continues, that they are on their way to super power status.