Satellite images suggest China may have developed new class of nuclear-powered submarine

[beijingwalker]

Satellite images suggest China may have developed new class of nuclear-powered submarine​

The vessel may have guided missile tubes and upgraded propulsion​

By Anders Hagstrom | Fox News
May 10, 2022 7:36am EDT

Satellite images of a Chinese shipyard suggest the country may have developed a new class of nuclear-powered attack submarines, Reuters reported Tuesday.

The images clearly show a submarine in dry dock, but shrouds over key areas of the vessel make it difficult to determine whether it is an entirely new class of ship or merely an upgrade to an existing model, according to Reuters. The changes in question relate to adding vertical-launching missile tubes for guided missiles as well as an upgraded propulsion system.

The images were captured at China's Huludao Port in the Liaoning province.

The parts of the ship that would house both the launch tubes and propulsion are covered with what appears to be green tarp. The propulsion upgrade, if applied, would replace traditional spinning propellors with quieter pump-jets, according to Reuters.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1521927257526136832

While the U.S. Navy has long had such vessels, the development would be a new one for China's burgeoning Navy. The U.S. military has also been monitoring the Chinese military for development of a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine in recent years.

The images come at a time of simmering tensions between the U.S. and China over both Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's ambitions toward Taiwan.

China has refused to join Western efforts to freeze out the Russian economy since President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February. The country has also consistently antagonized Taiwan's sovereignty with faux bombing runs near the island.

While the U.S formally recognizes the one-China policy and does not have an official embassy in Taiwan, the U.S. has supplied billions of dollars in defense technology to the country.

Satellite images suggest China may have developed new class of nuclear-powered submarine

Satellite images show a potential new class of Chinese nuclear-powered submarine in dry dock.

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[Asif Mayet]

Good for china , and her progress .

 

[Grandy]

Type 095 Submarine

The submarine is one of the important equipment of the modern navy. Because the seawater has a blocking effect on electromagnetic waves, general radar detection cannot be effective. At present, most countries in the world use sonar to detect submarines, which means that submarines have higher and higher requirements for silence.

However, traditional naval ships use propeller propulsion. Although this method of propulsion is more efficient, when advances, a large number of bubbles will be generated between the propeller and the sea, causing a cavitation effect. The ship’s propellers have a corrosive effect and also produce loud noise; and the mechanical structure of the propeller propulsion system is complicated, and the friction between the bearing and the hull will also produce loud noise, which seriously affects the submarine The silent performance makes it easier to be detected by the enemy's sonar.

So, in order to improve the quiet performance of submarines, pump jet propulsion was developed. The earliest pump-jet propulsion system was developed by the UK in the 1980s and was installed on its own nuclear submarine for testing. The results showed that it can effectively reduce the submarine's noise, which has also been valued by countries all over the world.

Traditional propeller propulsion is well understood by everyone, and pump jet propulsion is similar to putting a shell on the tip of the propeller. The advantage of this is that it can effectively reduce the cavitation effect and reduce the noise level of the submarine. Therefore, the pump jet propulsion system has also been developed as an advanced submarine technology by various countries.

Nevertheless, pump-jet propulsion still requires propeller drive, and the noise in bearings and mechanical structure is still very loud. Is there a solution?

Of course, the team led by Academician Ma Weiming, an expert on military equipment, developed the world's first shaftless pump-jet propulsion system. It replaces the traditional bearing propeller with a ring and drives it by a motor. The advantage of this is that it can effectively reduce the proportion of the mechanical structure in the propulsion system.And it got rid of the structure of the transmission shaft that both traditional propellers and early pump-jet propulsion had. Shaftless pump-jet propulsion also uses electric energy as a power source, which indirectly reduces the internal mechanical structure of the submarine and greatly reduces The noise level of the submarine while it is sailing.

The shaftless pump-jet propulsion system is relatively the most advanced in the world. Whether it is a nuclear submarine or a conventional power submarine, as long as the shaftless pump-jet propulsion is used, it can truly become silent." "Oceanic Black Hole" is of great significance from the perspective of equipment development and from a strategic perspective.