China's newest nuclear-powered attack submarine sank earlier this year, a senior U.S. defence official said on Thursday (September 26), a potential embarrassment for Beijing as it seeks to expand its military capabilities, Reuters reports.
A series of satellite images from Planet Labs appear to show cranes at the Wuchang shipyard, where the submarine would have been docked.
A senior U.S. defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said China's new first-in-class nuclear-powered attack submarine sank alongside a pier sometime between May and June. A Chinese embassy spokesperson in Washington said they had no information to provide.
China already has the largest navy in the world, with over 370 ships, and it has embarked on production of a new generation of nuclear-armed submarines. As of 2022, China had six nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, six nuclear-powered attack submarines and 48 diesel-powered attack submarines, according to a Pentagon report on China's military. That submarine force is expected to grow to 65 by 2025 and 80 by 2035, the U.S. Defense Department has said.
