Zhou-class submarine

Last updated
Class overview
NameType 041 (Zhou class)
Builders Wuchang Shipbuilding, Wuhan, China
OperatorsNaval ensign of China.svg  People's Liberation Army Navy
Preceded by Type 039A/B/C (Yuan class)
Built2021–present
Building1 (possibly damaged by sinking)
Completed0
General characteristics
Type Attack submarine
Displacement4,000 t (submerged)" [1]
Length84 m (275 ft 7 in) (estimated) [1]
Beam8.5 m (27 ft 11 in) (estimated) [1]
PropulsionConventional/ nuclear
RangeUnlimited

The Type 041 [lower-alpha 1] (NATO reporting name: Zhou class) is a class of hybrid conventional/ nuclear-powered attack submarines under development by China for the People's Liberation Army Navy Submarine Force (PLANSF).

Contents

The class is expected to succeed the Type 039A/B/C (Yuan class) and breaks convention as the first nuclear submarines to be built by Wuchang Shipbuilding along the Yangtze in the central China city of Wuhan. The class is also the first hybrid conventional/ nuclear Chinese design, and the first to feature a distinctive X-shaped stern configuration. Naval analysts describe it as a considerable advancement in Chinese sonar sensor technology and stealth acoustic signature reductions.

Design

The third-generation Zhou class nuclear submarine was first identified in satellite images in May 2021 and subsequently unveiled by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in July 2022. [2] Pentagon officials speaking to The Washington Times describe the boat as "a new class of nuclear submarine that is similar in size to the PLAN's conventionally powered submarines, but with a small nuclear reactor." [2]

Hull

The vessel’s design reportedly represents a new level in stealth technology for a Chinese submarine, making it harder to detect with sonar. A satellite image taken in March 2024 by Maxar Technologies revealed that the submarine was designed with an X-shaped stern, a design which improves maneuverability, efficiency, and safety, and also helps reduce the acoustic signature across significant parts of the submarine’s operating envelope. [3] [4] Naval analyst Thomas Shugart calls the design a "major upgrade from the Type 039A Yuan-class", his analysis of satellite imagery suggests the new submarine is around 10% longer than earlier generation attack submarines. [2]

The class is being built by Wuhan's Wuchang Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corporation. [5]

Propulsion

Chinese military affairs analyst Rick Fisher believes that based on descriptions of planned propulsion systems given by PLAN Rear Admiral Zhao Dengping in 2017, the nuclear power plant is similar to the Soviet designed VAU-6 auxiliary nuclear power plant (ANPP) tested in the late 1980s on the Juliett-class submarine K-68. [2] Sébastien Roblin wrote in Popular Mechanics that an ANPP design may be getting tested in the Type 041 as a way to cost effectively to increase range and submersion time on new boats and potentially replace the AIP systems on older existing Type 039 boats. [6]

Most western analysts, including statements by officials from the U.S. Department of Defense, conclude that the submarine is nuclear powered, however national security futurist and author P. W. Singer and Michael Dahm, Senior Resident Fellow for Aerospace and China Studies at George Washington University, dispute the claim, instead arguing that everyone may be mistranslating Chinese reports which they say actually references air-independent propulsion (AIP) technology, the conventional propulsion technology used on existing Type 039A/B/C submarines already in service. [7]

Combat control systems

According to Thomas Shugart, satellite imagery suggests the Zhou class will be equipped to be able to deploy dual towed sonar arrays. [2]

As the newest and most capable generation of attack submarine in the Chinese fleet, some speculate it may be used to escort Chinese carrier groups in the future.

Armament

According to P. W. Singer and Michael Dahm, the submarine's extended hull includes a section that appears to contain a vertical launching system (VLS) which they say would likely accommodate long-range YJ-18 anti-ship missiles or CJ-10 land-attack missiles. [7]

Boats

NameHull no.BuilderLaid downLaunchedCommissionedStatus
Type 041
UnknownUnknown Wuchang Shipbuilding, Wuhan 20212023Not in commissionUnder construction

Incidents

2024 alleged sinking in the Yangtze

In late May or early June 2024, the first of the Zhou class allegedly sank alongside its pier in the Yangtze River during fitting out at Wuchang Shipbuilding.

Thomas Shugart, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, was the first to publicly identify the incident, writing on social media site X in June regarding satellite photos of the Wuchang shipyard showing what he described as a large number of floating cranes salvaging a submerged submarine-shaped object from the river bottom. [2] Few details emerged until September 26 when U.S. defense officials confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that a Chinese submarine had sunken pier-side. [4]

US officials claimed that while the submarine had definitively sunk, they could not ascertain whether the submarine's reactor was fueled at the time of incident, "or if it is going to be relocated to a known nuclear-certified facility for its initial fueling, such as Huludao shipyard, which has built all previous PLAN nuclear submarine classes," the official said. [5] [2] No radiation leak has been detected. [5]

A spokesperson from the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC denied any knowledge of the incident to CNN, saying "We are not familiar with the situation you mentioned and currently have no information to provide." [5] A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson subsequently issued a similar denial to the BBC at a news conference in Beijing. [8]

Notes

  1. ↑ Throughout the 2010's, the designation "Type 041" was incorrectly attributed to improved variants of the Type 039A. The U.S. Department of Defense clarified in September 2024 that the actual Type 041 is a wholly new class beginning with the submarine which sank in Spring 2024.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Meyer, Manfred (2024-10-01). Bond, Larry (ed.). Modern Chinese Maritime Forces (2nd ed.). Admiralty Trilogy Group. p. 24.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gertz, Bill (2024-09-30). "Sunken Chinese submarine was a new hybrid nuclear-conventional attack boat, U.S. says". The Washington Times . Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  3. ↑ Newdick, Thomas (2024-09-26). "China's New Nuclear Submarine Sank During Mysterious Incident In Wuhan: Report". The War Zone. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  4. 1 2 Gordon, Michael R. (2024-09-26). "China's Newest Nuclear Submarine Sank, Setting Back Its Military Modernization". The Wall Street Journal .
  5. 1 2 3 4 Murphy, Paul P.; Liebermann, Oren (2024-09-26). "China's newest nuclear-powered submarine sank earlier this year, US official says". CNN . Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  6. ↑ Roblin, Sébastien (2024-10-02). "China Is Secretly Building a Strange, New Kind of Nuclear Submarine". Popular Mechanics . Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  7. 1 2 Dahm, J. Michael; Singer, Peter W. (2024-10-02). "What reports got wrong about China's 'sunken nuclear submarine'". Defense One . Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  8. ↑ Benson, Chris (2024-09-27). "China denies U.S. claim that its newest nuclear submarine sank at pier". United Press International . Retrieved 2024-10-02.
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