Chinese Navy / Credit: USNI

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – China has significantly advanced its submarine attack program by building three new Shang III cruise missile-firing nuclear submarines, according to US defense officials cited by the Washington Times.

The new submarines will join six others that are classified as Type-093, a class that is understood to include China’s most powerful nuclear subs.

US defense officials with knowledge of the matter have told the Washington Times that China’s new Shang III attack submarines are currently undergoing sea trials and certification. The submarines are expected to be deployed within two years.

“This is especially important as these are the first cruise missile submarines in the Chinese inventory,” one official told the Times.

The officials added that Chinese submarines have so far been confined to the Pacific region, and none have been deployed to the Indian Ocean since last year. “The close operations near China are emblematic of its military overall, with submarines and warships mostly staying near coasts and not much farther out to sea,” the Times observed.

In a separate analysis, the Telegraph UK noted: “If, as predicted, the Chinese navy ultimately builds a dozen Type 093Bs and each of the boats has 18 vertical missile cells – as indicated by design documents – it would go to war with slightly more than 200 sub-launched cruise missiles. China would have joined an exclusive club: only two navies, the US and Russian ones, have vertically sub-launched cruise missile capability.”

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