From Henri K blog. It is one big sub with 6000 Ton tonnage
Recently posted amateur photos showed that the modification work on the new submarine test bench of the Chinese Navy, known as the
Type 32 class , has now been completed.
Admitted to active service by the Chinese Navy on October 16, 2012, the Type 32, built to a single example, was designed to meet the needs of underwater arming tests for the next 30 years.
The building designed by the 719 Institute of the naval group CSIC as of January 2005 measures 92.6 meters long, 10 meters wide in beam, and 17.2 meters high. It moves to more than 6,600 tons full load in immersion and is therefore the largest submarine of conventional propulsion today, but also the most discrete one.
Indeed, apart from some pictures of spotter dating from the period of its construction, there are few publications concerning its state in service. So we do not know what he is testing and what he has conducted as trials so far.
But recent images show that the massif of the unique Type 32 has been modified. The rear has been partly enhanced, and the junction with the rest of the massif is carefully worked to be more hydrodynamic.
The official model of the Type 32, presented shortly after its admission to active service.
Type 32 submarine before modification in 2017.
The Type 32 submarine as of August 2, 2017 (Photo: 杀 日本)
Civilian satellite images suggest that the new wave of transformation began late February this year, and the building came out of the Liaonan shipyard's dry dock at the end of July. The relatively short duration of the work seems to indicate that the modifications of any kind would not have affected the thick shell, but this is to be confirmed.
One can see on the satellite image on the 15th April last one, see two cylindrical tubes at the back of the massif. And in comparison with the Type 32 model presented by the Wuchang shipyard, where the submarine was built, it is assumed to be a launch tube dedicated to SLBM ballistic missiles, longer than the two originally planned .
The Type 32 submarine in the dry dock of Liaonan Shipyard, dated April 15, 2017.
Given that the
JL-2 ballistic missile , which equips the Chinese
Type 9IV SNLE on a regular patrol in the Pacific Ocean, is already operational, it is likely that the new larger "tube" is dedicated to
JL-3 currently under development in The Chinese missile group CASIC.
This new missile, with a diameter of 2.2 meters against 2 meters on the JL-2, and now a more substantial height, could mean a greater range of the craft, and therefore a patrol zone closer to the Chinese coast For its future bearer.
It should be noted that the conning tower is probably not the only place on the Type 32 that has undergone modifications. Indeed, according to a photo published in early August in the Official Gazette of the Chinese Army, the front part located in front of the building has also been slightly enhanced.
And it is precisely at this point that the four tubes with the vertical launch are positioned on the model.