Posted on 10/24/2014 9:14:14 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
One Sunday morning last December, Chinas defense ministry summoned military attachés from several embassies to its monolithic Beijing headquarters.
To the foreigners surprise, the Chinese said that one of their nuclear-powered submarines would soon pass through the Strait of Malacca, a passage between Malaysia and Indonesia that carries much of world trade, say people briefed on the meeting.
Two days later, a Chinese attack suba so-called hunter-killer, designed to seek out and destroy enemy vesselsslipped through the strait above water and disappeared. It resurfaced near Sri Lanka and then in the Persian Gulf, say people familiar with its movements, before returning through the strait in Februarythe first known voyage of a Chinese sub to the Indian Ocean.
The message was clear: China had fulfilled its four-decade quest to join the elite club of countries with nuclear subs that can ply the high seas. The defense ministry summoned attachés again to disclose another Chinese deployment to the Indian Ocean in Septemberthis time a diesel-powered sub, which stopped off in Sri Lanka.
Chinas increasingly potent and active sub force represents the rising powers most significant military challenge yet for the region. Its expanding undersea fleet not only bolsters Chinas nuclear arsenal but also enhances the countrys capacity to enforce its territorial claims and thwart U.S. intervention.
China is expected to pass another milestone this year when it sets a different type of sub to seaa boomer, carrying fully armed nuclear missiles for the first timesays the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence, or ONI.
China is hardly hiding its new boomers. Tourists could clearly see three of them at a base opposite a resort recently in Chinas Hainan province. On the beach, rented Jet Skis were accompanied by guides to make sure riders didnt stray too close.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
SOURCE: IHS JANE'S, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES, FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS, STAFF REPORTS
Nuclear powered sub are a whole new level of complexity...they better have their quality control up to snuff or the dam thing could end up being nothing but a glorified rice cooker
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