Kilo Class Submarine

According to Russian Foreign TV News Net’s report on March 5, Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun believed the Taiwan military’s allegation that Mainland China has entered into a contract with Russia on the purchase of Amur-class (the export version of Lada-class) diesel-electric submarines.

It is a part of China’s plan to achieve modernisation of its troops and build up a marine superpower and aims at countering US aircraft carriers and preventing them from interfering with Taiwan affairs.

Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun pointed out: the Russian Lada-class submarine is an upgraded version of the Kilo-class ones, which are well-known for their extremely low noise. China will import four export-version Lada-class submarines, of which two will be build in Russia while the other two, in China. It is expected that a submarine supply agreement that really meets the requirements will not be concluded for two to three years.

Having been certain that China-made Type 041 Yuan-class submarines generate too loud a noise, China has decided to order Russia’s new-type submarines. It is said that in 2004, China successfully developed its Yuan-class submarines on the basis of imported technology of Kilo-class submarine and has vigorously used such submarines in its military drills over the past 5 years. However, due to relatively loud noise, the submarines have been discovered and recorded by US military’s SONAR and radar system.

The Japanese media believed: China is drafting a strategy to protect the nation and prevent enemy invasion across the first island chain, including the Japanese Archipelago, Taiwan and the Philippines. For that purpose, China plans to use guided missiles and submarines. In case of potential emergence of conflict in the Taiwan Strait, under specific circumstances, China could prevent the US from interfering with China’s internal affairs.

Taiwan’s military is worried that China’s import of new-type submarines from Russia will bring more trouble to US aircraft carriers in the Taiwan Strait area. China already has 60 submarines. In addition to the Kilo-class submarines imported from Russia from 1994 to 2002, China has its first batch of China-made Song-class submarines developed by China on its own. Most of the Kilo-class submarines and similar submarines developed by China on its own are deployed in the East China Sea Navy’s base in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. It is expected that the Amur-class submarines imported from Russia will also be deployed there.

Related Articles

• More noise from China: Submarines (chinadailymail.com)
• China expands fleet amid ambitions as a global power (chinadailymail.com)
• Moscow to aid Vietnam with submarine fleet launch (panarmenian.net)
• Sub-continental sub: Another Indian submarine modernized in Russia (rt.com)

Categories: Defence & Aerospace

Tags: China, Japan, Kilo class submarine, Lada Class Submarine, Mainichi Shimbun, Military, Philippines, Russia, Submarines, Taiwan