China Sends Ballistic Missile Submarine to New Base

Commercial satellite images have revealed a Chinese ballistic missile submarine docked outside the entrance to an underground complex at an island on the South China Sea, the Federation of American Scientists said yesterday (see GSN, March 3).

The design of the submarine at Hainan Island suggests it is a Type 094 Jin-class ballistic missile submarine, similar in construction to a submarine the U.S. organization found in satellite imagery of China’s Xiaopingdao submarine base in July 2007 and two it found at China’s Bohai shipyard last October (see GSN, July 6, 2007; GSN, Oct. 5, 2007).

According to U.S. estimates, China is operating two Jin-class submarines and building a third.  Washington believes that China might seek to build as many as five Jin-class submarines if Beijing ultimately intends to maintain a deterrent force of submarines armed with nuclear-tipped missiles (see GSN, Feb. 25).

The United States is likely to interpret the new base as a sign that Beijing aims to establish a permanent sea-based nuclear deterrent, although China has limited experience in conducting such a mission, the federation said.  The arrival of the submarine at the base could also spur India to continue its efforts to develop a ballistic missile submarine fleet, the organization said.

The Chinese facility appeared to include at least 12 tunnel entryways as well as a station for demagnetizing submarines to make them harder for sea-based weaponry to detect, the group noted (Hans Kristensen, Federation of American Scientists, April 24).

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