Chinese launch new sub class
 

New PLAN Submarine photos showed up in the Internet...
http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/6375/039bsep15.jpg

Looks to be a domestically produced Kilo copy with a few mods.

Nuke engine,
 

:hmmm:

Nah. Too small to house a reactor.

Maybe. But today development allows much less room for reactors,and it applies in general and submarines are no exception,anyway thanks for the information.

Im sure people would want to make nuclear powered submarine to be larger than diesel-electric ones.

For one nuclear sub is solely dependent on food supplies that they can stow aboard their sub hence the need of larger space and because they're expected to be deployed longer than diesel equivalent they naturally need to stow more torpedoes and weapons.

So that pic in most probability would not be a nuclear powered submarine. Looking at the small size it's clearly intended as a tactical submarine instead.

Either a Kilo copy or a hybrid Lada-Kilo copy or simply a much improved Kilo design. Chinese electronics are getting much better surely now.

I wouldn't discount the possibility she is a nuc since the French Rubis class SSNs are smaller than the Russian Kilo class diesels except this boat looks too much like a Kilo with an extra rudder, a WLR type intercept, and a modified Seawolf like sail.

Aye Rubis is a tiny bit shorter than Kilo indeed :hmmm:

This one really comes under the press radar . . . .usually we would read news about a new sub design months before it was ready to sail.

I say Kilo with some kind of extra power mod to last FAR longer in an attack run.

We are going to need large numbers of active sonar drones to flush these things out at this rate.

It also weighs 1,400 tons less. That's practically another diesel submarine right there. :03:

That sounds interesting if that's coupled with added processing and tracking power then ummmm would not be a bad sub.

Actually according to encyclopedia on my lap a surfaced Rubis has a displacement of 2,385 tons while a surfaced Kilo displacement is at 2,325 tons(pls do correct my English as I feel they have been becoming worse as my usage with the language becoming rarer, hardly read anything English anymore at least book wise)

But submerged the Rubis displace ~2,600-2,700 tons while the Kilo displaces ~4,000 tons submerged (Or less, have seen figures for 3,000 as well).

Wow...they're getting pretty good at sneaking things under the radar, aren't they?

Indeed, wonder how sneaky it will be when patrolling:hmmm:

Yea according to this thick encyclopedia

Kilo displaces 3,076 tons diving

While Rubis displaces 2,670 tons when submerged

If its got fuel cells or some other form of AIP it could be very sneaky. :hmmm:

Other possibility is that the Yuan has AIP and this is a pure diesel-electric version of the Yuan (the low end to the Yuan's high end).

Either-way bigger than a Rubis. :03: