Benzinga - by Melanie Schaffer, Benzinga Editor.
China launched its first fleet of nuclear-powered guided missile submarines less than one month after Taiwan took a significant step in strengthening its naval defenses against the growing threat posed by Xi Jinping.
China's inaugural fleet includes Type 093B guided missile submarines, according to Reuters, citing the Pentagon.
These land and sea-based capabilities were once the exclusive domain of U.S. and Russian naval forces, Reuters continued.
“The submarine force is a priority for Xi Jinping, and this is one more sign they are getting there," an Asian military expert connected to a diplomatic mission told the publication.
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Backdrop: Missile submarines emerged during the Cold War, when the Soviet Union created SSGNs, partly to attack U.S. aircraft carriers.
Per Reuters, the U.S. Navy produced a variant by transforming ballistic missile vessels into carriers of Tomahawk cruise missiles designed for land-attack missions.
In 2011, when the USS Florida, a U.S. SSGN, launched 93 Tomahawks against Libyan air defenses, which marked the first combat deployment of such a vessel, Chinese strategists watched closely.
Why It Matters: China isn’t ready to deploy its SSGNs yet, but the Pentagon’s report said that three of the submarines could be ready next year.
By 2025, the country could have a total fleet of 65 vessels, Reuters said.
The development of SSGNs gives China the ability to execute extensive land and anti-ship offensives from a considerable distance away. Studies presented at the U.S. Naval War College in May highlighted that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) was on the verge of significant advancements in reducing the noise levels of its submarines, making them more challenging for the U.S. and its partners to monitor, wrote Reuters.
The race for China to bolster its navy is seen as a threat not only to the U.S. but to many countries in the Indo-Pacific region. Last month, it was reported Australia will spend over AUD$28 billion ($18 billion) for each of up to 13 nuclear-powered submarines.
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