Primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA) recently reported that, according to images uploaded by AllSource Analysis, an image intelligence company based in Colorado in the U.S. and satellite images from Planet Labs, a submarine appeared at the Huludao Port Shipyard in Liaoning Province. According to these satellite images, China is building a new and large nuclear submarine equipped with a propulsion system that is more advanced than the improved Model 093 currently in service. This has sparked speculation that China will build a new generation of submarines with a vertical launch system. Experts said that the Chinese Communist Party exposed the new submarine to warn the United States about arms sales to Taiwan. It can be seen clearly from the images that this new type of nuclear-powered attack submarine has a larger and longer hull and that the propellers at the rear are tightly covered, which seems even more suspicious. However, the new submarine is still smaller than the 11,000-ton active ballistic missile nuclear-powered submarine Model 094. The improved Model 094A is equipped with a vertically-launched JL-3 ballistic missile with a range of 10,000 kilometers, covering the continental United States. The U.S. Department of Defense released a report to Congress in November last year, stating that the U.S. estimated that the Chinese military would build an improved version of the Model 093 or Model 093B submarine in the mid-2020s to strengthen its Navy’s anti-ship combat capabilities. The ship-based vertical launch system is quite capable. It enables ships to launch missiles with longer ranges and higher accuracy. However, the ship-based vertical launch system of submarines needs to use more advanced technology.
Source: CNA, May 14, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202205140119.aspx