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Subject:
China's Phony Submarine Fleet
James Dunnigan
12/23/2005 12:44:02 AM
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| Despite howls in some circles (right up to
the four star level), the ?threat? from China?s 60 or so submarines
seems very limited. Rarely are there more than 4-6 boats at sea at any
time, often there are none at all, and a number of units (the Han nuke
boats, for example), seem never to go to sea at all. China?s Type 092
SSBN Changzheng, laid down in 1978 and commissioned in 1987 (NATO
designation: Xia class) seems to be a maritime basket case. Reportedly
it has never operated outside of Chinese territorial waters, and has
never made an operational cruise. In addition, by some accounts it has
been in ?overhaul? since 1995. Apparently, when Chinese subs do go to
sea, the usually do so accompanied by one or more surface units. This
suggests a certain lack of confidence in the effectiveness of Chinese
boats. China is trying to improve this situation, and has been
particularly vigorous over the last few years. But so far, results are
meager.
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