Chinese Submarines Get Major Firepower Boost with New YJ-19 Hypersonic Cruise Missiles

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s fleet of attack submarines are expected to see their missile carrying capacities increased significantly with the integration of the new YJ-19 scramjet powered hypersonic cruise missiles, which has the potential to revolutionise the fleet’s anti-ship capabilities. The YJ-19 has a smaller diameter than the service’s other cruise missiles, including the newly unveiled the YJ-17 and YJ-20, and appears to have been designed to be launched from submarines’ 533 mm diameter torpedo tubes, rather than from vertical launch cells. This would allow it to be deployed alongside other higher diameter hypersonic missiles, such as the YJ-21, to significantly increase the overall missile carriage of Chinese submarines. Compared to larger hypersonic missiles, the YJ-19 is expected to have a shorter range and lower payload, with its reach potentially being limited to around 500 kilometres. Among the indications that the missile class is intended for use by submarines rather than surface ships are the distinct white paint scheme it has been displayed in, contrasting with the blue scheme used other missile classes, as well as the absence of visible suspension lugs.

Only Russia, China and North Korea are thought to currently deploy ship launched hypersonic anti-ship missiles, with the Russian Navy having received its first Zircon missiles in December 2019, while North Korea unveiled a hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile class in April 2025 and conducted a test launch from the new destroyer Choi Hyon. China operationalised its first ship launched hypersonic anti-ship missile, the YJ-21, some time near the beginning of the decade, with its capabilities leading it to widely be considered the most capable class of ship launched anti-ship weapon in the world. The YJ-19 was first unveiled in September 3 at the parade commemorating the Chinese and allied victory over the Japanese Empire in 1945, and is one of multiple hypersonic anti-ship missile classes currently in service. The new missile is expected to equip China’s six Type 093 Class nuclear powered long range attacks submarines and its large fleet Type 039 class diesel electronic attacks medium range submarines, of which 33 are currently in service. Not only are hypersonic cruise missiles more efficient, with the ability to travel greater distances on a limited fuel load, but they are also far harder to detect, track or intercept, significantly reduce adversaries’ reaction times, and can cause significant damage with the sheer kinetic force of their impacts.