09V/09VI (095/096) Nuclear Submarine Thread

[Blitzo]

In fact the FT is reporting on Kurt Campbell's statements earlier today, more accurately reported here:

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Submarine "operations" not technologies.

The entire section is written as:

In exchange for Beijing's help, Russia has started giving China submarine, missile and other sensitive technologies. Historically, Moscow has been wary of giving Beijing its very latest military technology.
"The capabilities that Russia is providing is support in areas where previously they had been frankly reluctant to engage directly with China," Campbell said. "We are concerned about a particular number of military arenas where there appears to be some determination to provide China with greater support.
"That has to do with submarine operations, activities of aeronautical design, including stealth; that also involves capacities on missile capabilities," he said.
According to Campbell, the new technologies that Beijing is receiving will pose a danger not just to the U.S., but also to India, Australia, Japan and South Korea "if China was able to receive greater engagement from Russia in perfecting certain military capabilities."

Campbell mentions submarine operations specifically while the rest of the article in that section talks about "technologies".

The fact that it's all vague and non-specific by others (including FT as well as the Politico article itself) and including "technologies" and specifically about "096" in the FT article is not a surprise -- again it's probably reflective of incompetence.

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Overall I think this "news" from FT (and even the original comments by Campbell) are not worthy of genuine discussion.

The most it deserves here in this thread brief bit of commentary like "this article is demonstrating incompetence and any related news to it is not worth our time and thread space".

 

[by78]

Some illustrations from an academic paper that I don't have access to, but these appear to depict a SSBN that doesn't match any existing Chinese design. Filing these here for documentation purposes just in case.

 

[by78]

(Continued from above...)

Here's the full paper in image form. Images are in quotation to save screen real estate

If I'm reading this correctly, the paper explores the high-speed noise characteristics of the VLS "hump" made of composite materials vs. the traditional all-metal construction.

 

[by78]

(Continued from above...)

 

[ACuriousPLAFan]

A rough illustration of the SSBN made by @勤劳朴实罗素历 on Weibo, based on the models presented in the aforementioned academic paper.

Looks rather Vanguard-esque. And although there is still a slight hump-back for the SLBM compartment, it is very much a leap forward from the high-up-in-the-water hump-backs of the 094/A/B SSBNs.



From another angle, this could (if not should further) affirm that the Chinese military shipbuilding industry today is no longer handicapped in the ability to construct large-diameter submarine hulls.

 

[sunnymaxi]

A rough illustration of the SSBN made by @勤劳朴实罗素历 on Weibo, based on the models presented in the aforementioned academic paper.

Looks rather Vanguard-esque. And although there is still a slight hump-back for the SLBM compartment, it is very much a leap forward from the high-up-in-the-water hump-backs of the 094/A/B SSBNs.

View attachment 136252

From another angle, this affirms that the Chinese shipbuilding industry today is no longer handicapped in the ability to construct large-diameter submarine hulls.

interesting design .. so what could be the displacement tonnage of type 096.. just rough estimate

 

[tphuang]

Ohio class's beam is 13m and displacement is 18000t.
Borei class is 13.5m and 24000t

So, I would think they aim around Ohio class in size. Anything smaller, probably not large enough for stealth.

 

[ACuriousPLAFan]

interesting design .. so what could be the displacement tonnage of type 096.. just rough estimate

The comment sections underneath the original posts of the academic paper and the rough illustration by @勤劳朴实罗素历 on Weibo rumored 16 SLBM VLS tubes for the 096 SSBN.

So if the claim is accurate, then just like what @tphuang mentioned - Around 16000-18000 tons of submerged displacement is a good bet.

 

[ACuriousPLAFan]

And although there is still a slight hump-back for the SLBM compartment, it is very much a leap forward from the high-up-in-the-water hump-backs of the 094/A/B SSBNs.

Just a little add-on.

And before/in case anyone complains about the presence of hump-back in the possible design hint of the 096 SSBN - Both the Ohio and Borei SSBNs do have hump-backs. They are just less noticeable due to their larger hull sizes and better streamlined hull-shaping design.




Even the under-construction Columbia SSBN is expected to feature a slight hump-back, despite displacing an almost staggering 21000 tons while underwater. So there's that.

 

[sunnymaxi]

Just to add-on:

And before anyone complains about the presence of hump-back in the possible design hint of the 096 SSBN - Both the Ohio and Borei SSBNs do have hump-backs. They are just less noticeable due to their larger hull sizes and more streamlined hull-shaping design.

View attachment 136256
View attachment 136257

Even the under-construction Columbia SSBN is expected to feature a slight hump-back, despite displacing an almost staggering 21000-tons while underwater. So there's that.

View attachment 136258

we have seen 12.5m hull piece in satellite imagery, that could be Type 095 SSN .. as per @horobeyo 095 displacement will be 9000-10,000 tons. this is 90% of total displacement of type 094 SSBN..

if we follow type 095 specifications, then type 096 with 16 VLS tubes could easily exceed 18,000 tons displacement minimum.. could be 18,000-20,000.. definitely a super large SSBN