China chases US and Russia guided-missile submarine capabilities with new vessels.

Based on the most recent Pentagon assessment of China’s military, the country has launched its first nuclear-powered guided missile submarines, providing options for land and sea attacks previously limited to U.S. and Russian ships.

The Pentagon study provided the first apparent proof that the modified submarines spotted at Chinese shipyards throughout the past 18 months are Type 093B guided missile submarines, which was released on October 20.

In May 2022, Reuters reported that satellite photos taken from the northeast Chinese shipyard Huludao revealed what seemed to be a new or updated type of submarine, perhaps equipped with vertical tubes for firing cruise missiles.

China’s navy “will have the ability to conduct long-range precision strikes against land targets from its submarines and surface combatants using land-attack cruise missiles, notably enhancing China’s power projection capability,” according to a Pentagon analysis.

The U.S. Navy created its version of the conventionally armed missile submarine, or “SSGN,” by adapting ballistic missile boats to carry many land-attack Tomahawk cruise missiles. The Soviet Union constructed these submarines partly to target American aircraft carriers during the Cold War.

Unlike ballistic weapons, which fly at high altitudes or skim the water’s surface, cruise missiles are usually long-range, precise weapons.

2011 saw the submarine USS Florida launch 93 Tomahawk missiles against Libyan air defenses, marking the first American SSGN combat attack. According to military attachés in the region, Chinese strategists were keenly watching this action.

According to some observers, the PLA navy would be keen to use the ships as a supplementary weapon against aircraft carriers and a platform for land attacks, enabling assaults from a far longer range than its fleets of smaller attack submarines.

The article mentions that three new SSGNs might be operational by the end of next year as part of a larger development of its submarine fleet, which could consist of 65 vessels by 2025 and use nuclear and diesel engines.

When Reuters asked questions, the Chinese Ministry of Defense remained silent.

As China builds a new generation of nuclear-armed boats as part of its growing deterrent force, the confirmation coincides with an escalating scramble to acquire submarines.

The U.S. Navy and other forces in the Indo-Pacific area have expanded their deployments and preparedness for contingencies, mostly due to their efforts to detect China’s submarines at sea.

According to security expert Collin Koh, who is based in Singapore, the SSGNs represent a significant advancement for the Chinese military.

He stated that with an anticipated cruise missile core arsenal, “this potentially allows them to carry out saturated land and anti-ship attacks at standoff range,” which would make China’s adversaries’ strategic calculations more difficult.

“I would also expect the Chinese have learned from the Russian experience in using them to threaten U.S. aircraft carriers – with an SSGN, you can launch strikes at standoff range, unlike a typical attack submarine that could have more limited weapon options, and that is a real advantage,” said Koh, a professor at the S. Rajaratnam Study.

Research presented in May at the U.S. Naval War College indicated that the PLA was on the verge of making significant progress toward making its nuclear-powered submarines much more difficult to monitor by the United States and its allies and significantly quieter.

It was unclear, however, if such discoveries had been incorporated into the freshly launched SSGNs, according to some diplomats and analysts. Nuclear-powered boats launched before the decade’s end are anticipated to have the modifications.

“We can anticipate that the PLA navy will exercise caution in their initial deployment until they are confident in the improvements,” stated an Asian military attaché who monitors China’s submarine fleet. The sensitivity of the situation led the attaché to decline to be named. “But we know the submarine force is a priority for Xi Jinping, which is one more sign they are getting there.”