My view is that although the PLAN nuclear sub force is not as quiet as the USN subs of the same generation, the article may be overstating the quality difference for political reasons, as many of the manufacturing method improvements from the civilian sector and ship subsystems are already incorporated into SSKs like the Yuan class, and economies of scale alone would have demanded similar incorporation into the SSNs like the 093 and followons. The only remaining thing that separates the PLAN SSNs from matching USN quieting level is the nuclear machinery systems, but Chinese use turbo-electric systems rather than direct drive systems like the Russians or the US, so the quieting approach would come from a different angle.
09III/09IV (093/094) Nuclear Submarine Thread
- Thread starter SinoSoldier
- Start date
I feel like the article isn't inaccurate, but it doesn't really shed any new light onto the matter which we have not known for the last few years or decades, even.
What would be more interesting, is an analysis of the advancement of the relevant industries that would be involved in nuclear submarine development and production, to see what kind of stage they are at, at present, to try and estimate what the latest generation and foreseeable future generation of nuclear submarines will look like.
What would be more interesting, is an analysis of the advancement of the relevant industries that would be involved in nuclear submarine development and production, to see what kind of stage they are at, at present, to try and estimate what the latest generation and foreseeable future generation of nuclear submarines will look like.
Skywatcher
Captain
ONI is a great naval intelligence shop, easily one of the best in the world.
But they're not good enough to predict how loud a future SSN (Type 095) will be, ten years before it even hits the water (if we assume that Type 095 construction began this year or last, it'll probably launched by 208-19).
Though to be fair, ONI could have thought the "093B" was the 095.
But they're not good enough to predict how loud a future SSN (Type 095) will be, ten years before it even hits the water (if we assume that Type 095 construction began this year or last, it'll probably launched by 208-19).
Though to be fair, ONI could have thought the "093B" was the 095.
I agree with this. The 095 was thought to be ready by around 2015; it turned out that 093B followed 093, not 095. 095 will be at least a generation ahead of 093, whereas 093B has incremental improvement. The core technologies for the next-gen nuclear reactor for nuclear submarines were successfully developed and became an official program in 2012. 2018-19 is a reasonable time frame for 095 to be ready.
On the subject of 093B, it is amazing that we still do not have a clear photo of it from the surface... most of the pictures we've had of it are from google images. These few photos below remain the best images we have of it, and the first two are from 2012, meaning they were likely launched even earlier!
I'm sure photos of 093B must exist (there are three of them in the water for goodness sake), it just goes to show how high opsec still surrounds Chinese nuclear submarines, and how well the Navy is able to enforce the standard even in an age where everyone has a smartphone in their pocket.
I'm sure photos of 093B must exist (there are three of them in the water for goodness sake), it just goes to show how high opsec still surrounds Chinese nuclear submarines, and how well the Navy is able to enforce the standard even in an age where everyone has a smartphone in their pocket.
SinoSoldier
Colonel
As I understand, there are two variants of the "upgraded 093": one that Blitzo just posted (with no apparent hump, first seen in 2013) and the new variant with a hump behind its conning tower. Or it could be that one of the two is the 095.
I think all 093Bs have the hump, it's just that some of the photos (such as the first two photos in my last post) don't show off the hump because of the angle, and because the hump is actually quite small.
Claiming to know the noise levels of yet-to-be-launched subs........ Let's just say that I like the look on Gates when 2001 flew.
Hyperwarp
Captain
Well its freedom of speech, but at the same time we don't need to give a $h!+ about what he says or better debunk what he says in professional point by point case. But when it comes Chinese SSN/SSBN the latter is almost impossible because considering how secretive they are about the subject. We get so many leaks on J-20, UAV/UCAV, surface combatants, SSK, etc, etc but not SSN/SSBN. Just think about it, how many images of the older 093 do we have let along 093B, etc.