“Snapped the Google image showing the secret sub.” From smh.com.au:
The first publicly available pictures have emerged of China’s new Jin-class nuclear-powered submarine, which is capable of firing intercontinental ballistic missiles against the US.
Hans Kristensen, a nuclear weapons analyst for the Federation of American Scientists, spotted the new submarine while reviewing photos of north-eastern China that had been snapped by a commercial satellite for Google Earth. The photos taken late last year show the submarine alongside a pier at the Xiaopingdao Submarine Base south of the city of Dalian. [Full Text]
More from Strategic Security Blog’s New Chinese Ballistic Missile Submarine Spotted by Hans Kristensen:
These two commercial satellite images of the old Xia-class SSBN (top) and the new Jin-class SSBN show the different major compartments. The Jin-class appears to be approximately 35 feet (10 meters) longer with an extended missile compartment. Both images view the submarines from a “eye-altitude” of approximately 500 feet (152 meters).
The U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence estimated in 2004 (bottom) that the Jin-class SSBN would have 12 missiles.
