December 3, 2004 :: Washington Times :: News
The Washington Times reports that China has recently launched a new class of ballistic missile submarines, Type-094, an significant improvement upon its current Xia class vessel. Bill Gertz quotes one defense official as saying that the submarine will “represent a more modern, more capable missile platform,” and an intelligence official, that the new submarine, reportedly largely based on Russian technologies, will be will be “China’s first truly intercontinental strategic nuclear delivery system.”
The submarine will carry 16 of the JL-2 ballistic missiles, each with multiple warheads. The JL-2 is the sea-based version of the land-based DF-31. Tests of the JL-2 reportedly took place in 2002 and 2003. According to Gertz, citing other U.S. intelligence officials, the Chinese tested the JL-2 missile this summer, but the test failed. No such reports made the mainstream news at the time.
Gertz also quotes a 1999 report by the House Select Committee, which elaborated on the specifications of the JL-2. The report, on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People’s Republic of China,
stated that the new missile submarine will likely benefit from stolen U.S. nuclear warhead designs.
The report stated that the JL-2 is expected to have a longer range than the DF-31 and that 16 JL-2s will be deployed on the new submarine.
The range of the JL-2 is estimated to be about 7,500 miles, enough “to strike targets throughout the United States,” the report said.
“Instead of venturing into the open ocean to attack the United States, the Type 094-class submarines could remain near [Chinese] waters, protected by the [People’s Liberation Army,] Navy and Air Force,” the report said.
(Article)
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