China has kept mum over reports of a possible accident involving a prototype People’s Liberation Army Navy submarine. Reports from Western media about a submerged Chinese submarine under construction at Wuhan Shuangliu shipyard on the Yangtze River started to emerge last month. The incident reportedly occurred four months ago. The Chinese have not issued any confirmation or denial.
The rumors first emerged when Thomas Shugart, a retired US Navy submariner, noticed weird images taken by a satellite. The images showed crane barges around the partly submerged object back in June. Speculation first hit print in The Wall Street Journal on September 26 and quickly proliferated to many other sources. It is a hybrid diesel-electric submarine with a possible nuclear reactor. Through satellite images, cranes were present between June 12 and 17, with indications of an attempt to lift the submarine off the riverbed. Despite such speculation, there was no evidence of radiation or response to nuclear emergencies, hence ruling out a major nuclear disaster.
An anonymous Pentagon spokesman said that the Type 041 could be a conventionally powered submarine with a small reactor. However, they remain unclear whether the reactor operated at the time of the incident. Or whether it had been transported for refueling.
China has refused to comment on the issue. When someone asked the Chinese Foreign Ministry about it, they claimed to be unfamiliar with the situation. In return, the Chinese embassy in Washington has also denied any knowledge of the incident.
It would raise very relevant questions about the submarine program of China if indeed confirmed. Type 041 is part of the effort of China to develop advanced naval technology. Conceived to put together the endurance of nuclear power with conventional submarines’ size and maneuverability.
The basic submarine technology of China has shown significant improvement- six nuclear attack submarines, and six nuclear ballistic missile submarines. However, China has kept most of the information regarding its new improvements very confidential, which makes it hard to assess the full impact of such incidents.
In any case, this incident does reveal a number of the difficulties that China’s armed forces must confront in its efforts to modernize military technologies. Despite the occasional setback, however, China continues to forge ahead with both naval and military capability development.
ANI
