Expanding Shipyards For Chinese Nuclear Submarines Will Boost Vital Type 095 Attack Sub Program

China is moving to expand shipyards associated with its nuclear submarine program, which comes as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy its looking to commission new classes of nuclear attack and ballistic missile submarines in parallel - the Type 095 Class and Type 096 Class respectively. Commercial satellite imagery has shown work underway at the Bohai Shipyard at Hulu island, with a new hall expected to allow for construction of two nuclear submarines simultaneously in addition to China’s pre-existing capacity. The expansion of production capacity for nuclear submarines notably follows on from similar investments for the surface navy, which allowed shipyards to launch ten heavy destroyers in the year by 2019 and to simultaneously construct two Type 002 Class supercarriers and two Type 075 Class amphibious carriers.

China’s shipbuilding capacity is currently the largest in the world, in both the military and the civilian sectors, and investment in nuclear submarines allow the PLA to both strengthen its nuclear deterrence capabilities with the Type 096 Class ship, and to improve conventional power projection capabilities with the Type 095 Class. These are both areas where China currently lags behind its leading competitors Russia and the United States, with the two submarine programs expected not only to bridge thee gap but likely to place China in the lead in many respects. The Type 095 attack submarine in particular is seen as a vital asset due to the major technological advance over its predecessor the Type 093 Class which it will represent, with the ship’s quietness and firepower allowing China to maintain a very survivable and powerful presence beyond East Asia to guard its trade routes across the Indian Ocean and beyond and potentially threaten Western carrier groups further afield in the event of open hostilities. The Type 095 program is being  pursued in parallel to the Type 002 carrier program with both intended to facilitate a greater Chinese naval presence in the far seas, and an expansion of shipyards is expected to facilitate a significantly larger production run for the Type 095 than for any of its predecessors.