05 April 2005

‘Gate Crashing’: China’s Submarine Force Tests New Waters

Andrew S. Erickson, Lyle J. Goldstein, and William S. Murray, “‘Gate Crashing’: China’s Submarine Force Tests New Waters,” Chinese Military Update 2.7 (April 2005): 1-4.

In November 2004, the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Forces (JMSDF) detected and aggressively tracked a submerged Chinese Han-class nuclear submarine that allegedly entered Japan’s territorial waters. This article discusses the incident, and places it into a larger context in which submarine officers are newly ascendant within Beijing’s naval command. The new generation submarines emerging at a quickening pace from Chinese shipyards are also described in some detail. … …