The PLA Navy contains a record number of diesel-electric submarinesThe spring visits to Moscow by Chinese President Xi Jinping (March 20-22) and Defense Minister Li Shangfu (April 14-18) were accompanied by assurances that China and Russia would continue cooperation in the field of military and military-technical cooperation (MTC).
Few doubt that the parties are doing some work on promising underwater technology, especially since this fact itself is reflected in official reports (" Why are Russia and China jointly designing a new submarine ", "HBO" dated 04/20.23). However, the details are kept "sealed".
The last major event from reliably known through the military-technical cooperation dates back to 2006. The Navy of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA Navy) then received the final, 12th in a row, the Varshavyanka family submarine of the Russian assembly. She was a diesel-electric submarine (DPL) of the 636M project.
In the same year 2006, Chinese shipyards began serial production of a very advanced Type 039A in design and characteristics. Later, it was based on an improved version of the 039B, which is also designated Type 041 or Yuan class. According to Western estimates, at least 17 ships (up to 20) of this family have been built in total. The sonar system is based on French and Russian analogues.
In addition to diesel generators, batteries and electric motors, the Type 041 submarine is equipped with an auxiliary anaerobic power plant based on Stirling engines. There is no exact data on its type and power. Western experts express the opinion that Chinese motors are made on the model of Swedish ones, the documentation for which somehow got into the Celestial Empire. Anyway, today Type 041 is among the most secretive submarines in the world.
The creation of air-independent power plants (VNEU) remains among the main areas of work of scientists and engineers of the leading maritime powers. This club, without any doubt, includes Russia and China. Our country has been working on this topic for a long time, but currently the Russian Navy does not have any non-nuclear submarines with VNEU. In short, there is a certain technological lag behind our partner in the military-technical cooperation, which is observed for the first time in the history of Russian-Chinese relations in the line of underwater technology.
SELFLESS HELPCooperation between our countries in the field of scuba diving began shortly after the end of the Second World War.
As a result of Japanese aggression, the Chinese fleet actually ceased to exist, it had to be created anew. The main supplier was the USSR: the first thing fraternal China "out of stock" was transferred 10 DPL. Four belonged to the class "M", four – "C", the rest – "Sch". They served as a "training desk" for the first Chinese submariners.
Starting from the second half of the XX century, deliveries of Soviet equipment of the first post-war generation began with the parallel staging of their licensed release at local shipyards. So, the USSR supplied the PRC with 5 project 613 diesel-electric submarines, and according to the transferred drawings, another 21 buildings were built on site.
The local shipbuilding industry also mastered the licensed assembly of the project 633 diesel engine and conducted it from 1957 to 1961. Then the plants switched to the production of an improved modification of Type 033 (Ming class according to the NATO classification). Until 1986, 86 units were built, including 4 for Egypt and 7 for North Korea. In the 1980s, Egypt was allocated another 4 DPLS from the presence of the PLA Navy. In parallel, 3 old submarines were transferred to Bangladesh and Burma (Myanmar). Some of them still remain in service as training.
The final quarter of the XX century was marked by the construction of the improved Type 035 project, a total of 18 units were assembled. Interestingly, the NATO reference books left them the same classification – "Ming class". Although the project is obsolete, at the beginning of the new century, 4 more Type 035B submarines were built for the PLA Navy.
The first project, fully executed by Chinese engineers, is Type 039 (Song class) with a surface displacement of 1,700 and an underwater displacement of 2,250 tons. The case has the shape of a drop (teardrop). According to Western media, MTU diesel generators and on-board equipment (pumps, etc.) came from Germany, analogues were then built in China. In the new century, 12 boats of the family were assembled (the main one – in 1999), including 7 according to the original project, the rest - improved. Currently, Type 039 is considered obsolete, although in terms of noise it is at the level of the German Type 209 (" Germany has stopped producing diesel-electric submarines ", "HBO" from 03/31.23).
NUCLEAR - POWERED VESSELSSoviet-Chinese relations gradually cooled in the 1960s, and in the 1970s they became hostile at all.
Before the complete cessation of Soviet aid, the PRC managed to obtain documentation and hull saturation for the project 629 DPL. The submarine was assembled by local shipbuilders and carried 3 R-11 ballistic missiles on board. Thanks to her, the Chinese have mastered and perfected the technology of underwater missile launch.
The submarine mentioned above was used as an experimental one in the interests of a number of nuclear submarine shipbuilding programs. France helped in this matter by sharing the technologies of the Rubis multipurpose nuclear submarine. Similar to it in basic engineering solutions, Chinese Type 091 submarines have been in operation since 1974. The series consisted of 5 units. One of them has been disposed of, the other has become a museum exhibit. 3 nuclear-powered vessels built in 1984-1991 remain in service.
On the basis of Type 091, the Type 092 strategic nuclear submarine (APCR) was assembled, adopted by the fleet in 1987. The cruiser is armed with 12 JL-1 ballistic missiles with a range of about 2 thousand km.
In 2003 and 2006, 2 Type 093 submarines with torpedo weapons were commissioned. Then, from 2007 to 2020, 6 Type 094 APCs are being built on their basis, each with 12 JL-2 missiles (flight range of more than 8 thousand km). In terms of noise, they are close to the level of the American Los Angeles submarines and the domestic 671RTMK project. In parallel, since 2006, Type 093B UAVs have been built, capable of launching underwater launch missiles from 533-mm torpedo tubes.
The construction of the Type 096 APC with JL-3 missiles (flight range over 12 thousand km) and Type 095 MAPLS, with tactical and technical characteristics comparable to American and Russian analogues, has begun. From torpedo tubes, these boats can launch cruise missiles: subsonic anti-ship YJ-82/83 and supersonic shock YJ-18.
According to American sources, currently the nuclear component of the PLA Navy includes 7 APCs (1 Type 092 and 6 Type 094 cruisers) and 9 MAPLS (3 Type 091, 2 Type 093 and 4 Type 093B), a total of 16 pennants.
DIESEL SUBMARINESThe underwater component of the PLA Navy has about 80 pennants.
The vast majority are DAPL, but the main customer no longer buys such products. Type 41 submarines with an additional VNEU compartment take the place of the classic diesel submarines. In the future, non-nuclear submarines with a single anaerobic power plant are expected to appear.
At the same time, classic diesel engines continue to be built for export. Foreign buyers are offered a simplified version of the Type 41 under its own designation S20. He is deprived of VNEU. Accordingly, the total displacement was reduced from 3,600 to 2,300 tons .
For the first time, the S20 became known in 2013. Since then, her large-scale models have been regularly shown at international exhibitions. For example, the desktop model S20 was present among the exhibits of the Chinese exposition at the International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2022". According to the data table, the surface displacement is 1,850 tons, the crew number is 38 officers and sailors.
On July 2, 2015, the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) announced the selection of China as a supplier of underwater equipment. The RTN Procurement Committee unanimously voted for the purchase of the S26T type DPL, which represents the completion of the basic S20 project.
In the summer of 2016, RTN submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers a financing plan for the purchase of three Chinese submarines in the amount of 36 billion baht, with the distribution of costs for 11 years. The accumulation of the required financing of the first submarine in the amount of 13 billion baht is provided in the period from 2017 to 2021 fiscal year. The second and third submarines will be acquired during the remainder of the 11-year period.
In May 2017, the Thai government issued a contract for one S26T submarine worth $390 million. The steel cutting ceremony for the first building was held on September 4, 2018.
The Government of Pakistan has approved the purchase of 8 S20 submarines from China for $ 5 billion (that is, $ 625 million apiece). The deal was concluded on July 23, 2015, deliveries should be completed by 2028. Apparently, such a high amount is explained by plans to assemble four boats on the customer's territory. The Ministry of Defense Production confirmed that the agreement includes the transfer of documentation and the production of a licensed release. For this purpose, a new KSEW shipyard and a training center will be built at it.
RUSSIAN CONTRIBUTIONHaving received orders from Thailand and Pakistan for 11 modern submarines, China has firmly become one of the largest sellers of underwater equipment to the developing world.
At the same time, a significant foreign component remains in the arsenal of the PLA Navy. It consists of 12 Russian-built Warshavyanka family DPLS. Of this number, one pair was built according to project 877 (delivery 1994-1995), the other – 636 (1997-1998). The remaining eight boats were built according to the modified 636M project with a "digital" version of the Rubicon hydroacoustic complex. The last Varshavyanka were accepted by the customer in 2004-2006, since then no other domestic boats have been transferred to China.
Due to the import of Russian products and mass construction at its own Navy yards, the PLA has become the largest user of diesel submarines with at least 56 units. Perhaps the real number is even higher (up to a hundred), taking into account the ships of old projects that are still used as training or enlisted in the reserve.
American sources estimate the number of active submarines of the PLA Navy at 74 APKR, MAPL and DAPL. Taking into account the experienced and under construction submarines, the figure increases to 80. Meanwhile, in 2006, China had 90 boats (including 5 nuclear-powered ones), that is, 10 fewer than today. In fact, the difference is even greater, since American sources sometimes deliberately overestimate the number of morally and physically obsolete boats maintained in operation in order to intimidate ordinary people with the "Chinese threat". If we take only modern types accepted into the PLA Navy in 2000 and later, there will barely be fifty corps. This number includes 8 DPLS of the 636M project of Russian construction.
The Russian contribution is not exhausted by this. Our country has helped China accumulate a huge arsenal of weapons of destruction. Thus, the domestic torpedo SAET-50 served as the basis for the creation of the Chinese counterpart Yu-1, and then its deep modernization Yu-4. The Americans also "helped" the development of Chinese weapons of destruction. The documentation for the Mk48 torpedo somehow became available to Chinese designers, and on its basis they created their own Yu-6. The projectile can be guided to the target by wires or by a wake. The maximum speed reaches 65 knots, the range is more than 45 km. Based on this torpedo, an even more advanced Yu-9 is being created.
China was no less attentive to the practical experience of foreign states in missile science. Based on the French Exocet anti-ship missile ("Flying Fish") of the SM38 variant, a Chinese one was created, also capable of launching from the torpedo tubes of a submarine in a submerged position. The delivery set of the Varshavyanka family of diesel-electric submarines included 3M-54E anti-ship missiles.
Having studied French and Russian technologies, Chinese specialists were able to create their own means of destruction. At the same time, they increased the flight range from several tens of miles in the "flying fish" to several thousand kilometers in the most modern versions of the YJ family cruise missiles. Today, the PLA Navy is among the most powerful fleets in the world.
Vyacheslav IvanovVyacheslav Viktorovich Ivanov – historian, expert.
