Quote:
Originally Posted by Axeman3d
I think there may be some real qualitative differences between the subs China has been knocking out over the past 10 years and subs like the Astute or Seawolf. China, like Russia before it, may well be putting quantity and not quality at the fore.
Also, like the good old days of the USSR, I doubt we will get to hear about half the disasters and compromises on the Chinese boats. Russia was in a hurry and had people to burn, so didn't worry too much about radiation shielding and other unimportant factors. No one has more people to burn than the Chinese, and they are clearly in a hurry to catch up with the west again.
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I have to disagree to some extent. If you look at the PLAAF you will see a distinct trend to Quality over Quantity. The J-10 and JF-17 are most certinly quality front line fighters equivalent to the middle of the road F-16 blocks. Large numbers of their old MiG-19s and 21s have been retired.
In the last five years or so we have seen their navy receive their first ships equipped with VLS SAMs, Towed Arrays, LACMs, and Phased Array Radars. Also Long range ASMs and ASROCs for some ships too.
Also I think that China is turning away from Nuclear powered submarines to some extent and pursuing open ocean AIP boats with their new "Yuan C" (Preliminary Designation). I'm betting they will cap their SSNs at 5 and SSBNs at 3-4 and instead build large numbers of long range conventional boats.