escobar
Brigadier
At least now we know it is nuclear powered with a NATO designation : Zhou class.
PLA Navy news, pics and videos
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
In the last photo we definitely see a submarine.
No idea about the type. It "could" be a one off prototype for all we know.
We've had some lengthy discussions and debates (and even a separate thread in this forum) on some rumors and claims surfacing inside the Chinese military watching circle in China about a brand-new type of SSKs that are equipped with nuclear reactors (or nuclear engines) currently under development/construction in China, with the nominal class designation SSKN.
Plus, the PLAN is indeed looking into it.
However, we have neither substantial proof nor confirmation that the particular SSK with X-tail we saw at Wuhan some months ago is actually equipped with a nuclear reactor/engine. Even today - We still have zero confirmation of that being the case or not.
As for the case of Wuchang building nuclear-powered SSKs (or known as SSKNs for the time being) - I certainly wouldn't discount that possibility.
In the meantime - Even if the claim of an SSK or even an SSKN actually sank at Wuhan is true - So what?
As long as no serious radioactive material release/contamination happened in the immediate area (which does seem to be the case here, otherwise people would've been b1tching on it already) - Those responsible for said submarine (or the related projects) better be thankful that the SSK or SSKN sank pierside (i.e. in shallow waters), where the sunken boat can be easily salvaged and have the causes of accident be investigated/closely studied in order to avoid future repeats.
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No, it is unheard off, and also preposterous. An indication of incompetence.
I mean, . Good news is that you can re-float that shit, pay a ton of money to fix it, and use it for 25 more years.
You'd have to be a really, really shit navy to .
Of course, .
The problem with the episode at Wuchang is the yard appears to have launched two boats. The Pakistani 039B and this mystery boat. Some of the satellite imagery appears to show the 039B, lacking the x-tail. Whereas at least one image shows the other boat. Which appears to be longer/narrower, with said x-tail. But I havent seen measurements.
Just so you know - Nowhere have I ever implied that (an SSK/SSKN sank pierside at Wuchang) to be true in my previous post, and I certainly hope that to be the case.
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Tom Shugart is literally patting himself in the back LMAO.
I get it, I simply jest.
by78
General
Full text is for those interested.
Frankly, it's a bunch of nonsense. It's well attested that China has only one yard (at Huludou) that builds nuclear subs. Wuhan builds diesel electric subs only. So far, the only 'evidence' proffered is some tweets from Shugart that contained satellite images of alleged crane barges congregating at a pier. However, crane barges are very similar to dredging barges in appearance and would be practically indistinguishable in grainy satellite images (see photos below). Both barge types feature large cranes, the difference being that a dredging barge's crane is connected to a bucket used to remove sediments from the riverbed. Laughably, Shugart thinks he saw a black shape in one of the images and speculates that it's a sunken submarine, but that shape is clearly a grainy, elongated shadow cast by one of the cranes. Now the Wall Street Journal has picked up on Shugart's crackpot theory, and somehow a possible sunken diesel sub became a proven sunken nuclear sub. A truly imbecilic series of events, all stemming from what likely had been a simple dredging operation.
The first two photos below are dredging barges. The last two are crane barges.
One more thing, in one of the tweets Shugart pointed to to imply that something unusual is going on. The boom is nothing unusual during a dredging operation when heavy diesel powered machineries are involved. Booms are regularly deployed as a precautionary measure, as seen in the below photo of a dredging operation.
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