The Chinese military suffered a serious setback in spring, with the sinking of one of its state-of-the-art nuclear submarines that was being built in a shipyard, the Chinese military revealed on Thursday, September 26. Wall Street Journal. The incident, which until now remained secret, was immediately confirmed by US State Department officials. China had no comment.
Immersion is undoubtedly one of the skills expected of a submarine, but this immersion seems to have gotten out of control: according to satellite images released by the American company Planet Labs, the ship was moored in mid-May in a shipyard in Wuhan . , on the banks of the Yangtze River in central China, suddenly appeared submerged in mid-June, with cranes working around it, possibly to refloat it.
According to information from Wall Street JournalThe vessel was the first example of a Zhou-class nuclear submarine, a new type of vessel equipped with technology intended to be particularly discreet at the bottom of the water. It could be saved, but its restoration could require months of work if water managed to seep inside.
Being able to invade Taiwan from 2027
This accident represents a major failure for the Chinese submarine program. Despite its modernization efforts, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) still suffers from significant weaknesses, particularly due to the corruption that reigns within it. The military underwent a major purge in 2023 that cost the two generals responsible for the missile force – responsible for part of China’s deterrence – their jobs, as well as Defense Minister Li Shangfu, who was replaced in October 2023. However, the revelation of this sinking comes a day after a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile in the Pacific, the first since the 1980s outside Chinese territory, which is precisely supposed to erase these setbacks.
This construction accident, timely revealed by US intelligence, occurs in a context of fierce competition between the United States and China, particularly in the military naval field. Since 2020, Beijing has surpassed Washington in the number of helmets. The Chinese fleet currently numbers around 370 ships, according to the US Department of Defense’s latest report on the status of the Chinese military, published in late 2023, while the US remains below the 300 threshold, particularly due to reasons for saturation. of its shipyards.
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