China's Type 093, Shang-class nuclear submarines are genuinely noisy compared to Western and Russian nuclear submarines. See "SUBMARINE NOISE CHART" below. So it is not surprising British sonars detected the 093 Shangs.
JOHN FENG for Newsweek, August 10, 2021, reports:
“China
Submarines Used UK Warships for Target Practice, State Media Claims”
China's nuclear-powered submarines may have been using the U.K.'s aircraft carrier group for target practice before intentionally revealing themselves to British warships, a Communist Party newspaper said on [August 9, 2021].
The report by the state-owned tabloid the Global Times cited unnamed experts in a direct response to a report out of London claiming the Chinese submarines had been detected "stalking" the Queen Elizabeth Carrier Strike Group (CSG) during its deployment to Asia.
["Jive" of Sub Brief calls the use of two ships using active sonar to triangulate-locate a submarine "bi-static ranging" ]
The Daily Express
reported on [August 9, 2021] that sonar operators onboard HMS Kent and HMS Richmond, two
frigates that form part of HMS Queen Elizabeth's escort fleet, detected a pair
of PLA Navy Type 093 [Shang-class] submarines shadowing the carrier group [as it moved from the South
China Sea into the Western Pacific where HMS Queen Elizabeth then temporarily ported at the US's Guam naval base].
---
After transiting the Luzon Strait [between the South China Sea and Guam] a third Type 093 was pinged by the carrier group's Astute-class submarine escort, reported the Express, which said the Chinese warships were detected by their unique propeller sounds.
In a quick retort just hours later, the Global Times, which espouses some of Beijing's more hawkish views, sought
to dismiss suggestions the Chinese naval assets had been caught unawares during
their mission to shadow the British carrier strike group.
"As a necessary
measure of defense, it is possible that the PLA used the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft
carrier strike group as an imaginary target for practice," an unnamed
expert told the newspaper.
---
"It is also possible that the Chinese
submarines intentionally revealed themselves after having accomplished their
missions, sending a warning to the U.K. carrier group," the report
continued.
The Royal Navy's Queen Elizabeth CSG, which is on its maiden voyage to the Indo-Pacific, is on a port visit in Guam while some of its escorts docked at naval
bases in Japan.
Echoing sentiments expressed by the Chinese government, the Global Times said the U.K. sent its warships to Asia in order to "flex its muscles" and "stir up trouble."
[see Submarine Matters' article "China Spits Dummy: HMS Queen Elizabeth in South China Sea."]
London, meanwhile, sees the deployment as a sign of the
country's commitment to collective security in the region. Last month, Britain
announced the permanent deployment of two
warships to the Indo-Pacific are beginning at the end of
August [2021].
HMS Queen Elizabeth, the Royal Navy's flagship, has been
closely watched by observers in Asia since it sailed into the South China Sea,
which China claims through its "nine-dash line." Scrutiny by Beijing appears
to have been expected.
"It's no secret that China shadows and
challenges ships transiting international waters on very legitimate
routes," he said. "We will respect China and we hope that China
respects us."
British forces are taking part in this month's U.S.-led Large Scale Global Exercise 21 [aka LSGE21] which also features Australian and Japanese troops. The drills to increase
inter-operability between the armed forces began on August 2 and will run
through August 21, according to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command."
Pete Comment
China's Shang-class "TYPE 093 SSN" can be seen towards the top righthand corner, only slightly quieter than Soviet/Russian Victors and China's Han SSNs built 20 years before the 093 Shangs. The quietest are termed "NSSN" on the chart - now called the US Virginia class.
Source: Worldwide Submarine Challenges 1996, Office of [US] Naval Intelligence via Jeffrey Lewis's "China's Noisy New Boomer" at Arms Control Wonk, November 24, 2009 https://www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/202544/chinas-noisy-new-boomer/
Hi Pete
ReplyDeleteScience and technology in China have greatly developed [1]. High level of stealth technologies are applied for Type 093 nuclear attack submarine [2]. I believe noisiness of Chinese submarine is becoming a thing of the past.
[1] https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210810_17/
“In terms of quantity, China put out an average of more than 353,100 papers per year, while the US averaged about 285,700 papers. It was the second year in a row that China outstripped the US in terms of average numbers over the preceding 3-year period. Germany came in third with around 68,000, followed by Japan with over 65,700.”
[2] http://www.wuqibaike.com/index.php?doc-view-13384
stealth technology (of Type 093 nuclear attack submarine)
The longitudinal length of each section of the flow hole is shortened, and the strength of the outer shell steel plate at the opening of the flow hole is improved, which is great for avoiding the resonance of the outer shell steel plate caused by the high-speed sailing of the double hull submarine and reducing the generation of a large amount of hydrodynamic noise.
A layer of overall flexible skin material (of hull) is also adhered to it. This layer of material not only reduces the fluid resistance caused by the anechoic tile to reduce the speed of the submarine, but also greatly reduces the mechanical noise of the submarine and reduces the enemy’s sonar. The search distance significantly improves the concealment of nuclear submarines.
As the processing capacity of China’s defense industry increases, the processing accuracy of mechanical components such as reduction gears and transmission shafts on nuclear submarines will be greatly improved. Mechanical transmission components with better precision will have less mechanical impact during operation. In addition, through The equipment uses vibration-damping floating raft technology, and the pipeline adopts sound-absorbing materials, so that the mechanical vibration and noise are significantly reduced. China has installed a 7-blade large skew propeller on the Type 039 submarine. Therefore, a new type of 7-blade large skew propeller with better cavitation performance and lower noise level will be used on the Type 093 nuclear submarine. After this series of new noise reduction measures and mute technology, the noise decibel level of Type 093 attack nuclear submarine should be better than Russia's Type 671 attack nuclear submarine Type III (Victor class III), which is on the same level as the early type of Los Angeles-class attack nuclear submarine. , And close to its improved noise decibel level, which is a huge improvement to the mute level of Chinese nuclear submarines.
Regards
Hi Anonymous
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'll turn "High level of stealth technologies are applied for Type 093 nuclear attack submarine [2]" into an article next week.
Regards
Pete