The question is, who do I pay to "sneak" onto an "abandoned" Chinese-Soviet sub, and how much?
Yuan Class AIP & Kilo Submarine Thread
- Thread starter Jeff Head
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The question is, who do I pay to "sneak" onto an "abandoned" Chinese-Soviet sub, and how much?
General question: any speculation on the future of the PLAN's SSK fleet, now that it has a rapidly growing & maturing nuclear-powered fleet? Will they slowly fade into history as they age, or will they still have a role as a relatively cheap & numerous asset for securing the 1st island chain (in collaboration with UUVs)?
Thats a very good question and one that will depend on prioritisation of finite budgets and resources. But realistically the 039A/B/C fleet has a ~30 year service life, requiring replacement sometime in the 2040s forward. I think we will see a pronounced shift towards nuclear for the next ten years, but I think its at least plausible that there's appetite for some kind of conventional design. A lot depends on what sort of technology China considers mature. Also on what neighbours are doing. Japan and Korea I think will both transition to nuclear platforms.
lcloo
Major
If by 2040 China can produce high efficiency battery with high storage capacity, instead of diesel-electric powered SSK, we might see emergence of pure electric SSK which might be even more silence and less vibrations.
Maybe even have fully electric torpedoes that can vary speed, and silent launch and run silently until a final boost phase.
Have submarine drones that patrol the ocean, can surface periodically to charge via microwave/laser beaming from space, with the option to do suicide kills if finding targets of high value.
Have submarine drones that patrol the ocean, can surface periodically to charge via microwave/laser beaming from space, with the option to do suicide kills if finding targets of high value.
China's continental shelf is very shallow for standard nuclear subs. I would say that even if they get TW back China would still need a meaningful ssk / sskn fleet (2 - 3k displacement) within 1IC.
Especially if China's neighbours like S.Korea and Japan operates sizeable SSKs themselves that can sneak into the shallow seas.
This is just a sensor network.
If China's massive SSK fleet presents as a credible threat against USN, Japan's SSK fleet is definitely a threat to PLAN surface ships. Previously, China's main weakness beyond the first island chain is countering the air threat and the SSN threat. The air threat is being countered symmetrically with PLAN and PLANAF's own air power. The subsurface threat is a bit of an unknown. SSN and SSK numbers and technologies have come a long way but PLAN's massive surface build up can still be threatened unless its ASW is absolute top notch, second to none.
The sensor networks and UUVs are one part of the ASW puzzle but how well practised is PLAN really in ASW? Japan and the US have some of the world's best SSK and SSNs.
You can lookup the underwater communication tech China possesses.