Photos: China Reportedly Commissions New Version of Type 039 Submarine With ‘Stealth’ Sail
18:57 GMT 22.07.2022 (Updated: 19:04 GMT 19.10.2022)
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Following days of rumors, an anonymous source close to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) confirmed to Chinese media that China had, in fact, recently commissioned a new type of submarine.
The new submarine is reportedly a new variant of the Type 039 (NATO reporting name: Song-class), China’s first submarine class of a modern design and the first fully developed within China. However, this one has some upgrades to its sail, including a unique angled design that observers said could improve its stealthiness.
China 🇨🇳 @SCMPNews headline: South China Morning Post
— MiniTrue Archive (@MiniTrueArchive) July 22, 2022
China’s navy has quietly commissioned a new submarine for its eastern fleet pic.twitter.com/GqplGevqVF
The rumors began on Monday, when the official WeChat account of the PLA Navy posted photos about upgrades to sailors’ canteen services at the naval base in Zhejiang Province’s Ningbo, where the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command is headquartered.
In the background of one of the images can be seen a swearing-in ceremony on board a submarine with an unusual-shaped sail that is angled instead of perpendicular to the hull and with smaller sail planes..
According to Shanghai-based news portal Eastday.com, analysts believe the new design could reduce the submarine’s radar cross-section and make it stealthier when surfaced, as well as provide hydrodynamic advantages when submerged. The new sail could also house new systems, perhaps ones that help the Type 039 to launch cruise missiles, which it fires from its forward torpedo tubes instead of vertical launch tubes in order to save space.
The PLA made no official announcement about the sub’s commissioning, or about the new variant of Type 039, leaving much open to speculation. However, a source “who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter” told the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Friday that it wasn’t that long ago.
“[The commissioning] happened just recently as some of the older submarines need to be replaced,” the source said to the Hong Kong-based paper.
Footage of what seems to be a new variant of China's Type 039 attack submarine near Shanghai posted on social media in 2021.
There was a separate sighting of the same submarine a year earlier in Shanghai’s Huangpu River, with images posted on Chinese social media at the time showing the new sail design in profile. Even then, it was speculated to be a new variant of the Type 039, and observers noted the similarly in design to the Swedish Saab A26, a submarine with a radical new design on which construction began only a few weeks ago.
New variant of the #Chinese #Navy's Type 039 diesel/electric #submarine seen in May/June on the Huangpu River in Shanghai. The sub sports a sail shape quite similar to that on the Swedish Saab A26 design (3rd graphic). Not clear if this is a new sub or a modified older boat pic.twitter.com/HIm7PKQcIl
— Chris Cavas (@CavasShips) June 24, 2021
As the SCMP noted at the time, this is hardly the first time the Type 039’s sail has been totally redesigned. Since it was introduced in 1998, the diesel-powered boat has seen seven different versions of its sail, including the most recent angled version.
China’s rapidly expanding submarine force has given rise to fears by Australia and the United States that the advanced force could pose a challenge to the presumed American dominance of the Pacific Ocean. Australia has pushed to expand its own submarine force and anti-submarine capabilities, including penning a deal with Washington last year to share nuclear power technology with Australia to help it build its first nuclear-powered attack submarines. With the American subs using extremely high-grade uranium as fuel, this has given rise to fears of nuclear proliferation.
Canberra is set to decide between buying the American Virginia-class Block IV submarine and the British Astute-class submarine by early 2023, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said last week.
