China's "new" mystery small sub may be derived from a Russian Klavesin/Harpsichord AUV

Photo A. (Photo repeated on Jane's via mil.news.sina.com.cn)

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Andrew Tate for IHS Jane's Defence Weekly reports November 1, 2018 about what  (in Photo A.) looks like a Chinese special mission submarine on the stocks at China’s Jiangnan Changxingdao shipyard. 

Without indications of size (like a man or vehicle next to the sub) it may be "50 m long with a pressure hull diameter of about 5 m".

If completed? (and that is a major gap in non-Chinese knowledge) its evident lack of a fin/sail may indicate that its a deep diving test submarine, maybe:

1.  going further than the old Russian Alfa class (small size, small crew, highly automated) with a small sail design OR

2.  Using Russian analogies this Chinese sub (Photo A.) may be similar to the deep diving special mission  "baby" Losharik (diagram above - thankyou H. I. Sutton)  The small sail on the Losharik makes ascending into the belly of a Belgorod (thanks again H. I. Sutton) "mother" Delta or Oscar variant submarine, easier. The Chinese (Photo A.) unmanned or manned special mission submarine may have the principal mission of tapping submarine cables 1,000+ meters down on the seafloor as well under-seabed energy and mineral searches.

Photo B.

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China's (50m long?) object in Photo A. may be a derivative of Russia's much smaller (6.5m long) "Klavesin"/"Harpsichord" object in Photo B.) 

About Photo B. (an AUV/UUV/ROV) this is Russian Rubin's Klavesin-2R-PM UUV (navyrecognition  Reported June 28, 2016):

"In 2015, Rubin finished the production of working construction documentation for Klavesin-2R-PM UUV intended for search operations at depths down to 6,000 m. The Rubin`s research and development (R&D) fabrication line produced the vehicle`s prototype. The special testing equipment with transport-docking module was manufactured to test the vehicle`s algorithms. In late 2016, the UUV`s demonstrator was tested at the Krylov State Research Center`s experimental tank to confirm its meeting to the operational requirements and to define the vehicle`s navigability", the report said."

Photo B. seems the same as, or similar to, H. I. Sutton's Harpsichord-2P-PM (scroll half way down this site) which records a AUV with "Specifications Length 6.5m, Diameter 1m, Weight in air about 3.700 kg, Range: about 27 nm, Operating depth: 6,000m (according to Rubin. Some reports suggest ~2,000 m)".

If true, while countries usually claim new submarines (or AUVs) are their own new "indigenous" invention it pays to re-invent someone else's "wheel".

Pete