China's clandestine submarine caves extend Xi's naval reach

[nitpicker]

http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/china/china-s-clandestine-submarine-caves-extend-xi-s-naval-reach-1.311568

China's clandestine submarine caves extend Xi's naval reach

By David Tweed
Bloomberg News
Published: November 1, 2014

HONG KONG — Beneath the surface of the South China Sea off the tropical Chinese resort island of Hainan, an underwater tunnel guides submarines into a lair reminiscent of a James Bond spy movie.

From this pen the subs can venture in and out of the contested South China Sea hidden from the prying eyes of reconnaissance planes deployed by the U.S. Navy, which for the past half century has enjoyed almost unfettered access to the waters, say military watchers who cite satellite images of the area.

The fleet of diesel and nuclear-powered submarines reflects President Xi Jinping's efforts to ensure the security of sea lanes vital for feeding the economic growth on which the nation's stability rests. It's also provoked discomfort among neighbors bruised by China's approach to territorial disputes.
(snip)

The People's Liberation Army Navy has 56 attack submarines, of which 51 are conventional diesel-electric and five are nuclear powered, according to a Defense Department report to Congress published in April.

China also has three nuclear-powered submarines that can launch ballistic missiles, and may add five more, according to the Pentagon report. The report said these subs will this year carry the JL-2 ballistic missile, which has an estimated range of 7,400 kilometers (4,600 miles) and will "give the PLA Navy its first credible sea-based nuclear deterrent."

A range of that distance would allow the missiles to reach Hawaii if launched from the Western Pacific, and California if fired from the mid-Pacific, according to Dean Cheng, a research fellow on Chinese political and security affairs at The Heritage Foundation in Washington.
(snip)

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Hmmm