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China has been building up its armed forces at a rapid pace over the past few years. We’ve seen a lot of Chinese Coast Guard vessels harassing the Philippines in the South China Sea. And the PLA Air Force has sent hundreds of fighters and bombers toward Taiwan over the past four years. So given China’s habit of bullying its neighbors it’s a real shame to learn that the PLA Navy’s newest nuclear attack submarine sank in port a few months ago.
China’s newest nuclear-powered submarine sank pierside in the spring and the Chinese Navy tried to conceal the loss, according to two US defense officials.
The attack submarine was the first of its new Zhou-class line of vessels, the official said, under construction at a shipyard near the city of Wuhan. The Zhou-class submarines have a distinctive X-shaped stern, designed to improve maneuverability underwater.
“It’s not surprising that the PLA Navy would try to conceal the fact that their new first-in-class nuclear-powered attack submarine sank pierside,” said the senior US defense official.
Satellite photos from March show the new sub docked and being worked on but images of the same site from June show a large group of floating cranes at the site.
