China-Russia in a nuclear sub counter to AUKUS

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Category: Seguridad marítima

Published on Monday, 23 October 2023 12:37

Written by Administrator2

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 ASIA TIMES

China’s Type 096 nuclear submarine draws on Russian tech and expertise and once operational will bring US mainland into closer missile range

By GABRIEL HONRADAOCTOBER 23, 2023

 of China’s Type 093 SSN in terms of hull design, instrumentation, acoustic stealth improvement and acoustic countermeasures. She also notes that Russia remains well ahead of China in crucial submarine technologies such as quieting and nuclear propulsion.

A Chinese nuclear-powered Type 094A Jin-class ballistic missile submarine takes part in a military display in the South China Sea. Photo: Handout

The Type 096 may have design parallels with Russia’s next-generation SSBN. In August 2022, Asia Times reported about Russia’s Arcturus SSBN concept, which features sonar-deflecting shaping, new anti-echoic coating, a shaftless power plant and pump jet propulsion. The Arcturus comes armed with next-generation Russian SLBMs and underwater drones.

Kirchberger argues that Russia’s underfunded submarine design bureaus and industries are at risk of a brain drain to China, with the Russian government moving to stop that possibility by entering into joint production with China.

She notes that Russia could supply critical technologies such as nuclear propulsion, quieting, and hydrodynamic hull design. At the same time, she says China’s massive naval shipbuilding capacity can provide mass production capability and economies of scale.

Kirchberger notes that Russia’s state-owned nuclear company Rosatom supplied 6,477 kilos of highly enriched uranium (HEU) to China’s CFR-600 reactor on Changbiao Island in December 2022, an amount that analysts project could make 50 nuclear warheads yearly. She says that apart from nuclear weapons the HEU could also be used as fuel for China’s nuclear submarines.