China Shows Off Its Strategic Nuclear Submarines to Avoid Nuclear Attack from US

Three Chinese submarines at a military port in Hainan

Three Chinese submarines at a military port in Hainan

Three Chinese submarines at a military port in Hainan

The other two of the three Chinese submarines at a military port in Hainan

Recently a web user has taken some rare photos of three Chinese nuclear submarines at a certain naval port in Hainan, China. Judging by their shapes, they must be one Type 093 attack and two Type 094 strategic nuclear submarines.

This blogger’s note: China’ nuclear submarines have seldom been seen as they are China’s top secrets.

As a result, the US knew nothing about China’s nuclear submarines. In May 2013, U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert told Congress that despite deploying a current force of 55 submarines, both diesel and nuclear powered, Chinese navy “is not there yet.” “we own the undersea domain,” he said.

A country has 55 submarines but has never sent them out. Do you believe that any country will spend billions of dollars for a fleet not capable of going out into high sea. But US high-ranking admiral believed that.

On July 23, 2013, Washington Times carried the report by Bill Gertz on The Washington Free Beacon titled “Red tide: China deploys new class of strategic missile submarines next year”, stating that Type 094, China’s second-generation strategic submarine, would not be deployed until 2014 and that it would “be the first time China conducts submarine operations involving nuclear-tipped missiles far from Chinese shores despite having a small missile submarine force since the late 1980s.”

As there was real possibility of a war between China and Japan that may have the US involved, China realized that it has to make known that it has real second-strike capabilities to avoid US nuclear attack due to US underestimate of China’s second-strike capabilities,

To correct the underestimate, the next day, Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing The Mirror monthly revealed to Taiwan’s Central News Agency in haste an article it was going to publish in its next issue, revealing that Type 094 were in service long ago.

China began producing its third-generation nuclear submarines, i.e. Type 095 Sui-class attack nuclear submarines and Type 096 Zhou-class strategic nuclear submarines in 2007. The existence of the third-generation submarines is an undeniable fact, the magazine says.

China is developing its fourth-generation nuclear submarines. According informed source, the fourth-generation nuclear submarines are revolutionary submarines with unprecedented propulsion by magnetic liquid. It, therefore, has no screw propeller or tail or horizontal rudders and may possibly be free of a sail hull. As a result, it generates no mechanical or cruise noise at all and will be a real black hole in ocean.

In theory a fourth-generation submarines under development will have a speed of 100 knots, quicker than all high-speed torpedoes let alone being hit by them.

To convince the US, China began to show off its nuclear submarines. From October 27 to 29, 2013, China’s top official media CCTV displayed in its primetime news footages about China’s strategic submarines.

In early February 2014, three new strategic nuclear submarines were found at Yalong Gulf South Fleet Base, Sanya. A web user took photos of them and posted the photos on the Internet.

China shows off its second-strike capabilities again to have three of its nuclear submarines berthed at a military port at the same time now. It is not rare now as at least we know there was a previous showoff in February.

However, it is related with recent tension in the South China Sea. China wants to show that it is able to defeat the US in a conventional war near its coast. That may cause the US to use nuclear weapons against China. As a result, China has to show off its second-strike capabilities to prevent a nuclear first strike from the US.

China’s recent successful test of JL-3 SLBM (submarine-launched ICBM) with range cover entire United States were carried out for the same purpose.

Source: huanqiu.com “Three Chinese nuclear submarines appeared on blue water under blue sky” (summary by Chan Kai Yee based on the report in Chinese)

Related posts:

• China rebuffs US efforts on South China Sea tensions dated August 11, 2014
• Successful Test of China’s JL-3 Nuclear SLBM Able to Hit Entire USA dated August 6, 2014

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