Are China's nuclear submarines also going to be made in batches? According to a report by the American website "The Drive", 8 093B attack nuclear submarines are being built simultaneously in China. This will be another major surge in global nuclear submarine production after the large-scale construction of nuclear submarines by the US and the Soviet Union.
Nuclear submarines are divided into two main categories. Attack nuclear submarines focus on attacking enemy surface ships, other submarines (anti-submarine warfare), protecting their own aircraft carrier battle groups, conducting reconnaissance, surveillance, special forces delivery, and using cruise missiles to strike land and sea targets. Their main weapons are torpedoes and anti-ship/land-attack cruise missiles.
While strategic nuclear submarines mainly serve for strategic nuclear deterrence. Strategic nuclear submarines carry submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM). Each missile usually carries multiple nuclear warheads, with a range reaching thousands or even tens of thousands of kilometers. Their core value lies in their stealth and survivability (ensuring the ability for a second nuclear strike), rather than speed or direct participation in fleet combat. They remain hidden in the ocean, conducting long-term secret patrols, ensuring that they can still carry out destructive nuclear retaliation after suffering the first nuclear strike from the enemy.
Attack nuclear submarines have outstanding advantages such as high speed, good stealth, strong maneuverability, and powerful attack capabilities, and have become one of the main combat tools for major naval powers to achieve their maritime strategies. They are an important part of modern navies. Therefore, while China is vigorously developing missile destroyers, it is also vigorously developing attack nuclear submarines. The United States even believes that, for a full-scale war, a fully armed submarine that is stealthy is the most powerful naval vessel so far, and is the best way to sink more visible maritime forces, such as aircraft carriers.
China's nuclear submarines are among the most strictly confidential pieces of equipment, and there has never been anything more secretive. The Dongfeng 31 and Dongfeng 5 are occasionally shown off every few years, and sometimes you can even see a missile body and launch image. In recent years, the few reports about nuclear submarines only mention people, not equipment. However, there is no doubt that the 093B is currently the most advanced attack nuclear submarine in China.
According to official media reports, the 093B features large-scale filling angles for noise reduction and active valve noise reduction technologies, ensuring that the overall noise level of the submarine is further reduced. The submarine is characterized by stealthy attacks. Since electromagnetic waves have extremely poor penetration in seawater, and nuclear submarines can remain submerged throughout the mission, acoustic signals are the main method for detecting nuclear submarines. Therefore, the stealth of a submarine does not mean it cannot be seen with the naked eye, but rather that it is difficult for sonar to detect. The quieter the submarine, the better its stealth performance. Therefore, countries pay great attention to the quietness of nuclear submarines. It can be said that stealth is a prerequisite for submarines to perform various tasks. All nuclear submarine users strive to improve the cruising quietness of nuclear submarines, develop underwater acoustic detection capabilities, and try to increase underwater speed as much as possible.
It is unknown whether the 093B uses Professor Ma Weiming's shaftless pump jet technology. "Shaftless" means that there is no traditional propulsion shaft system on the submarine. It simplifies the transmission shaft and gear system. Without a shaft, the cost of processing and maintenance is significantly reduced, and the mechanical noise generated during the submarine's submersion is also greatly reduced, which is completely beneficial for stealth. As for "pump jet," it makes the submarine's propeller disappear and improves the "ionized bubble" generated during movement. Therefore, the "shaftless pump jet technology" represents a qualitative leap for China's future nuclear submarines, enhancing them in multiple aspects such as noise reduction, electromagnetism, and wake, achieving world-leading levels in submarine operational stealth, high speed, and maintainability.
In summary, Professor Ma Weiming's shaftless pump jet technology eliminates the two main sources of noise in submarines - propeller noise and mechanical noise. The remaining hydrodynamic noise is low-frequency noise, mainly related to speed. It can be said that using the shaftless pump jet technology, China's new nuclear submarines will be leading in propulsion systems and noise reduction performance.
It is certain that thanks to China's globally leading internet and radar technologies, the 093B has advanced situational awareness capabilities. Stronger situational awareness capabilities (including sonar, radar, electronic reconnaissance, optical-electronic systems, and even non-acoustic detection methods) mean being able to detect enemy surface ships, submarines, anti-submarine aircraft, mines, and other threats from farther, earlier, and more accurately. This provides valuable response time for the submarine commander, allowing them to plan routes in advance, change depth, reduce noise, release decoys, or take other evasive actions to avoid detection and attack.
Moreover, whether launching ballistic missiles for strategic nuclear strikes or launching cruise missiles/torpedoes for tactical attacks, extremely accurate target information is required. Strong situational awareness capabilities can more reliably confirm the location and nature of the target, providing more precise and real-time target guidance data for torpedoes and missiles, shortening the weapon reaction time, and increasing the probability of hitting the target.
China's 093B is capable of vertical launching anti-ship missiles, cruise missiles, or performing other special missions. It has 24 vertical missile launch units. Therefore, it can carry the YJ-21 hypersonic missile, and because of this, the 093B has a devastating striking capability against aircraft carriers.
If, as the U.S. media stated, China is building 8 093B submarines at the same time, they can launch 192 hypersonic missiles simultaneously, enough to destroy the U.S. aircraft carrier group.
Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7538395779556295178/
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