09III/09IV (093/094) Nuclear Submarine Thread

lcloo

Major
That many parked in the open simultaneously feels like somewhat of a deliberate satellite display for the US? lol
PLAN don't have many covered submarine pens, and I have not even remembering seeing one. we have also seen some 10-20 years old photo displaying the same scenario.

They do have a cave accessible to submarines in Sanya naval base but a single cave in a mountain probably pointed to storage of strategic value like storage for sub launched ICBM rather than a place to hide SSBN or SSN.
 

Blitzo

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Registered Member
That many parked in the open simultaneously feels like somewhat of a deliberate satellite display for the US? lol

As the absolute number of nuclear submarine increases, assuming the percentage of availability remains similar, the absolute net number of visible nuclear submarines will increase, so I think it isn't anything too unique.
 

para80

Junior Member
Registered Member
The past average for SSN and SSBN parked at Longpo hovered around 4-5. This was in line with the overall fleet size and distribution (ie some were at Jianggezhuang). As the fleet size increases, so does the number of visible boats. Most submarines, regardless of propulsion, are parked "in the open", and as PLAN grows, I think these shelters will in fact decrease in importance.

During the Cold War and immediately afterwards American bases such as Norfolk routinely had ten or more SSN in berth at the same time. So this is quite normal.
 
Top