According to officials at the U.S. Department of Defense, China has launched its first submarine designed to carry an intercontinental nuclear payload.
The submarine is, at a minimum, months away from having missiles installed and going on a cruise, one official said, discussing foreign weapons developments only on condition of anonymity. Still, it is further evidence of China’s intentions to expand both its nuclear weapons and submarine forces, officials say.
It was widely known China was building the new class of nuclear-missile submarine, called the Type 094 but the launch is far ahead of what U.S. intelligence expected, one official said.
The launch was first reported in the Washington Times newspaper. The newspaper reported U.S. intelligence spotted the sub at a shipyard 400 kilometres from Beijing.
It would be China’s first submarine capable of launching nuclear weapons that could reach the United States from the country’s home waters, officials said.
The Chinese military has also been developing a new class of submarine-launched ballistic missile, called the JL-2, that is expected to have a range in excess of 7,400 kilometres. The Type 094 submarine would carry these missiles but it is not clear whether the missiles are ready for deployment.
Previously, China has had only one submarine capable of launching nuclear missiles, called the Type 092, or Xia, class. In 2001, a Pentagon report said the Xia was not operational. Its missiles were of an older class that could fly only 1,000 kilometres.
Successful cruises by the Type 094 would give China a new strategic deterrent against the United States, no longer limited to land-based ICBMs and weapons carried on aircraft. But U.S. defence officials said China lags behind the United States in its ability to hide submarines from sophisticated sonars and other sensors.
By all accounts, China severely lags behind the U.S. in practically every aspect of naval technology, and this class should be easily trackable by American attack submarines.
The Chinese will have a potential impact in three important areas with this launch. First, they are placing an added burden for the American navy to monitor and possibly counter. Second, they will add to the importance of a viable missile defense for the U.S. and an additional stressor on matters concerning Tiawan. Third, they just gave Tom Clancy another storyline.