TheSubReport.com
Posted on 02/16/2006 8:20:10 PM PST by esryle
Kyodo) _ A group of U.S. nuclear experts published on a magazine Thursday a satellite photograph showing an underground facility for the only existing nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine in China. Many experts have pointed out the existence of such an underground facility, but it is the first time it has been actually disclosed in a photograph, said Hans Kristensen, one of the five experts who co-authored the article including the photograph in the latest edition of Imaging Notes magazine.
The photo is one of the five published photographs on China's nuclear-related facilities. They were taken by a commercial satellite and obtained by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a New York-based environmental protection group.
The satellite image shows the underground facility at the Jianggeshuang Submarine Base where two submarines -- the nuclear-powered submarine, called the Xia, and a Han-class attack submarine -- are also photographed as anchored.
The facility is probably used to store and maintain the Xia's missiles and their nuclear warheads, the experts said in the article.
The Xia is equipped with 12 missile hatches, but has not conducted an operational deterrence patrol since it was launched in April 1981, Kristensen said. It is part of China's North Sea Fleet headquartered in Qiagdao, Shandong Province.
The submarine base is located in the Yellow Sea near Qingdao.
A lemon.
No kidding. Maybe the French can borrow it for their carrier battle group the next time the Charles de Gaulle leaves port.
-ccm
I predict the Xia will end up communing with China's Great Naval Aviator Wong Wei, who decided to match wits with a U.S. Navy E3 on April 1st 2001, and found himself holding the wrong end of the prop.
"Wong Wei sleeps with the fishes, so too will the Xia"
PING
ping
Made more accurate thanks to William Jefferson Blythe Clinton's treason in return for campaign contributions!
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