Chinese Succeed With SLBM Launch: The Week Ahead

DoD Buzz ^ | 2/6/2011 | Colin Clark

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Reports are swirling around that the People’s Liberation Army Navy has successfully tested Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles. If so, this achievement would represent an important advance in China’s strategic capabilities.

Norman Polmar, the respected naval and intelligence author. mentioned this at a presentation Wednesday evening while discussing his new book, Project Azorian. Since then, we’ve been trying to get more details. Polmar says in an email that the missile test submarine is a Soviet-built Project 629/Golf diesel-electric submarine. The only public mention of this so far (in English) comes in a South Korean newspaper, the Chosun Ibo. This is what the South Korean paper says the Chinese daily said: “The Changcheng 200 smoothly accomplished scores of test-launch missions of ballistic missiles over the past 46 years. It received the title ‘vanguard submarine of underwater test launches’ from Hu Jintao, the chairman of the Central Military Commission, last August,” the daily said. (We can’t find any mentions in English.)

This week: The Pentagon is gearing up for the budget presentations on Feb 14. The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment previews the budget during its authoritative briefing on Thursday. The Air Force is developing its game plan on the tanker contract award. Congress is pretty quiet this week, though the House Armed Services emerging threats and capabilities subcommittee holds a Friday hearing at 11:30 a.m. on cyber issues. Tomorrow morning, we’ll run our commentary by Dean Cheng of the Heritage Foundation about just what was accomplished during the recent Washington visit of President Jun Jintao. And we’ve got breakfast on Wednesday with Paul Kaminski, head of the Defense Science Board, one of the best brains operating in the U.S. defense world.

[Tommyjo]

This is nothing new. The PRC have been testing ballistic missile from this Golf Class test submarine for decades. In the 1980s they built their first dedicated SLBM sub the Type 92 (Xia Class). In the last decade they have built the Type 094 (Jin Class) nuclear powered ballistic sub to field the JL-2 ballistic missile.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

What is interesting is the history of this class of submarine.K129 which was a Golf class submarine sank and the accident being picked up with the SOSUS network. We recovered parts of the boat.

[EdisonOne]

***Good, the Chinese should continue to waste billions of dollars seeking a technology that is utterly useless.***

I too wondered why they would go as far as to arm a Soviet era Golf diesel-electric with SLBM when they already have their 091, 092, 093, 094, a rumored 095 & 096, and even a speculative 097 program to boot. It must also be known however that this Golf diesel-electric has been well known to be a test bed for other SLBM since the days of the 091.

This suggests to me one thing: What the ChiCom’s are in fact saying is that they had succeeded in the launching of DF-31 ICBM from a hull that were not intended for the launching of ICBM class missiles and that is a great feat on the part of these Commies :).

After all, if they can arm the Golf diesel-electric with a DF-31 ICBM, what then does that say about their future Golf diesel-electrics such as their 039 Ming class, their 040 Song class, their 041 Yuan class, and their recently declassified and supposedly upgraded 041 Super Yuan hull???

***They should develop even greater stealth technologies for these boomers, and spend even more money building the largest fleet ever. Hope Russia revives their boomer program and spends billions on it as well.***

Unlike us north Americans and those of us in the Anglo world, Russia 2011, I’m afraid, had already given up their military aggressiveness and assertiveness and unlikely to see the Chinese as a military rival no more. In fact, just as how I see relationships going into the future between the United States and the Chinese, which is leaning towards what are “Superfusion”, eventually, so are relationships between the Russians and the Chinese one of detente, mutual respect, and one of mutual cooperation because it’s the only way to go for these big boys.

Therefore, relationships between Russia and China would be one that’s based economic competitions and, eventually, one of cooperation based on mutual benefits or how the wall street people would take to the merging of one conglomerate with another as a means of economic survival.

Sorry, gotta go. no time, the grandkid getting cranky!

[JosephTan]

Minus the 2 new kids on the block - India & Pakistan (and an undeclared Israel), China had the LEAST number of nuclear weapons. She also pledge a “no first use” of nuclear weapon.

With a history of humiliation from Western countries domination the last 150 or so years ago notwithstanding as late as 1750 having a third (1/3) i.e. 33.33% of the World’s GNP (Gross national Products), China must have a deterrence weapon against any powers in the world.

In a few years China is poised to be the largest economy and in time, perhaps the richest country taking his historical place in the world.

1) ASBM is NOT a money-waster. Consider this:- If Chinese missile can hit a satellite target, the size of a mini-van travelling at 20,000 km/h (yes, twenty thousand km per hour), what make you think that the same missile cannot be able to strike a gigantic size carrier which traveled at a tortoise speed?
The key words here is NOT whether China would strike or not - great probability China will NEVER used it against the US or any country for that matter - but the effect is DETERRENCE

2) The SLBM of JL-2 has also the deterrence effect in that it would give China a alternative platform to have a “second-strike capability”

That is all. No intention of China to threaten any country using ASBM or JL-2. China want a “peaceful and harmonious rise”.

[Republic of Texas]

They never could have done this without Bill Clinton and Loral. Thanks for the treason Bill. Hiding behind the Lewinski scandal was genius. As for the Republicans who allowed it. They should be shot by the same firing squad for treason.