Positively ID'd as chicoms? I hadn't seen that. I had thought that they were NK.
The Chicom thing points to a PH type event, possibly to head off a reaction to TW. The chicom schedule for full missile readiness WRT TW is by 2005, less than 50 days away.
Something's up. The boat was probably specfically chosen for its capabilities to perform a certain desired mission. Lets hit the basics and see what the CHICOMS are up to. ___________________________________________________________ Sea Lane denial is out because they are too close inland to deny access to or hit any local shipping lanes. Intel gathering is the most probable. Depends on the ELINT suite and their capabilities. To my knowledge, the CHICOMS are not the best intel operators in the world, but they may have gotten better in the years since I left the Navy. Special Forces Insertion and recon is out...they would have been caught doing it by now. ASW ops....not likely Training...highly doubtful if it is in Japanese territorial waters Best guess: Intelligence and recon to report aircraft, ship and troop movements from Okinawa, as well as plotting the waters for later reference. Sounds like the Han class SSN, probably stationed at either Shanghai or Quingdao:
