National Defense highlights threat of China's submarines
The Type 093 Shang-class attack submarine. (Internet photo)
The potential threat of the People's Liberation Army Navy had been examined in an article written by Stew Magnuson entitled "China's Navy Takes Great Leap Forward" recently published by the Virginia-based National Defense magazine.
Magnuson said two PLA destroyers and a new amphibious vessel recently sailed through the Sunda Strait between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra. A week later, they appeared in the Indian Ocean for a naval exercise in the region. The article said that this is the first time PLA Navy warships have been spotted in these waters. Magnuson said that China is not only increasing the number of its warships, but also adding different kind of vessels to its fleet.
Ronald O'Rourke, a specialist in naval affairs at the US Congressional Research Service said that reforms and improvements in maintenance and logistics, naval doctrine, personnel quality, education and training and exercises are also included in the modernization program of the Chinese navy. While China's carrier was mentioned in the article, Magnuson also discussed the capability of Chinese submarines for counter-attacks against well equipped modern adversaries.
Jesse Karotkin, senior intelligence officer from the US office of naval intelligence, said the large but poorly equipped force of the 1980s has given way to a more modern submarine force, optimized primarily for regional, anti-surface warfare missions near major sea lines of communication.
In addition to 12 non-nuclear powered attack submarine purchased from Russia, China has four different types of domestic attack submarines, according to Karotkin, including two classes of nuclear-powered attack submarines — Jin and Shang — and two conventional attack submarines, Yuan and Song.
Jan van Tol, a retired US Navy captain, suggested both the United States and Japan improve their anti-submarine warfare capabilities because China will present a bigger challenge once the PLA Navy begins to receive better boats. The Shang-class submarine is likely to be commissioned in 2015.
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