China Lost a Brand New Nuclear Submarine: We Want to Know Why

What you need to know: China's ambitions to challenge U.S. naval supremacy suffered a major setback when its newest nuclear submarine sank during construction earlier this year. US defense officials revealed the incident, which Beijing tried to cover up.

– The sinking of the lead ship of a new class of submarines highlights the challenges China faces in achieving military parity with the United States. While China's navy is rapidly modernizing, this incident highlights its industrial and operational deficiencies.

-As Beijing pushes to become a superpower, incidents like this show it still has a long way to go to compete with the U.S. Navy's capabilities.

-The Chinese Navy suffered a significant setback in achieving parity with the US Navy.

Chinese Navy faces setback as new nuclear submarine sinks during construction

On Friday, U.S. defense officials revealed that Beijing's newest nuclear submarine sank during construction at its shipyard in the spring.

The Chinese military tried to cover up the embarrassing incident, but now U.S. defense officials revealed the truth.

Submarine crashed for China: An embarrassing incident

The Pentagon has confirmed that China's newest nuclear submarine sank last spring during construction at a shipyard. Then Beijing tried to hide the fact that the submarine had sunk. The submarine in question is the lead ship of a new class of submarines.

“It is not surprising that the People's Liberation Army Navy would try to hide the fact that its new, first-in-class nuclear submarine sank at the pier,” the senior U.S. defense official said.

“We are not familiar with the situation you mentioned and cannot provide any information at this time,” said a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC said CNN.

The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the sinking of China's newest submarine, while Tom Shugart, a former submariner and current fellow at the Center for a New American Security think tank, was the first to spot the unusual activity using satellite images .

“It is unclear whether this shipyard is certified to handle nuclear materials. Therefore, we do not know whether the submarine reactor was fired at the time of the incident or whether it will be moved to a known nuclear-certified facility for initial firing, such as the Huludao Shipyard, which has built all previous PLA “nuclear submarines” classes in the Navy,” a military official said.

The US Navy currently has 71 submarines, each powered by nuclear energy. In total, the Navy has 53 attack submarines designed to find and sink enemy ships, 14 ballistic missile submarines that carry nuclear warheads and provide America's nuclear deterrent at sea, and 4 guided-missile submarines. Submarines capable of firing hundreds of cruise missiles at land targets.

In comparison, the Chinese Navy has about 60 submarines, 48 ​​of which are diesel-powered. Beijing is rapidly modernizing its armed forces but is encountering obstacles.

Aspirations and Challenges of Superpowers

The incident highlights the extreme challenges of planning, building and maintaining an advanced military force. There is a reason the United States is the world's superpower and has the military and industrial complex to back up its claim. Beijing also aspires to become a superpower and challenge the United States. But obviously it will be a few years before it can do that.

Much of China's strategy is based on stealing and reproducing other countries' technology and intellectual property. The US Intelligence Community estimates that Beijing steals up to $600 billion worth of intellectual property from the US each year. Having stolen this intellectual property, Beijing sets to work reproducing it. But you can't replicate human industrial or operational experience. And China lacks both, especially the latter.

Make no mistake: China wants to challenge the United States. But its military still has work to do before it can compete with America and its allies.

About the author:

Stavros Atlamazoglou is an experienced defense journalist specializing in special operations and a veteran of the Greek Army (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army Headquarters). He holds a BA from Johns Hopkins University and an MA from Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx and SOFREP.

Image credit: Creative Commons.