A new Chinese attack submarine being built at a shipyard in Wuhan could be used to target medium-range missile defence systems deployed in the Philippines, according to a semi-official military magazine.
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The People’s Liberation Army has yet to confirm that the larger class of submarine is under development.
But the report in Naval & Merchant Ships – a publication owned by China State Shipbuilding Corporation, a supplier to the PLA Navy – provides details of the vessel’s design and capabilities, indirectly confirming its existence and the rationale behind it.
The report, published earlier this month, suggests the submarine is aimed at improving China’s naval capabilities to counter the growing foreign military presence in the region.
It refers to the Typhon launchers deployed by the US on Luzon Island in the Philippines during a joint training exercise last April. The launchers can fire multipurpose missiles with a range of thousands of kilometres, meaning they could strike targets in China, Russia and North Korea from Luzon.
According to the report, China’s new submarine is designed to carry advanced hypersonic missiles, allowing the PLA to “conduct covert strikes from beyond enemy defences, with the additional option of deploying nuclear warheads if required”.