Recently, a well-known foreign theater military website said that during a period of time released on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese Navy's submarine force, a Type 074 "Yuhai"-class amphibious landing ship was attacked as a target ship during a sinking exercise (SINKEX) or similar tests. Alex Luck, a Chinese military observer, shared the video on the social platform X.
The Chinese Navy's Type 039 submarine fired a heavy wake-seeking torpedo, which is shown in the video detonating and "lifting" the stern of the Type 074 Yuhai-class amphibious landing ship. This is usually a catastrophic act, which destroys the keel of the ship.
Even if a surface ship of tens of thousands of tons is attacked by this 533-mm heavy wake homing torpedo, especially if it hits below the waterline of the hull, it will basically be "killed or wounded" and will at least lose its naval combat capability.
The 533-mm heavy wake homing torpedo explodes in the area below the waterline of a surface ship, and its lethal destructive power to the ship is far greater than that of an anti-ship missile exploding above the waterline of the ship.
The Type 074 landing ship is a kind of general-purpose landing ship designed by the Chinese Navy in order to improve the slow speed and poor wind and wave resistance of the small landing ships previously equipped, and the hull is smaller than that of other types of landing ships.
The Type 074 landing ship, with a shallow draft and superior beaching performance, has a full load displacement of 656 tons (there is another 800 tons on the Internet), a carrying capacity of 100 tons, and can transport 250 heavily armed soldiers and 2 amphibious armored fighting vehicles, with a maximum speed of 18 knots. It is China that entered the list in the early 90s of the last century, with a scale of equipment of 12 ships.
The ship is equipped with a split gate and a folding double-section drawbridge, which facilitates the entry and exit of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled guns and other vehicles, and is also conducive to increasing speed. There are also cranes on the deck for loading and unloading light cargo and other combat materiel.
The diesel-electric submarines equipped by the Chinese Navy, especially those of the AIP type that do not rely on air propulsion technology, are particularly suitable for carrying out combat missions along the coast and hunting similar landing ships and other surface ships, which are certainly within the attack range of PLA Navy submarines.
Wake-guided heavy torpedoes, which not only sail fast, but also have a powerful explosion, carry a warhead with a large charge. They are guided by the wake of the ship and usually detonate below the waterline in the vessel's tail.
Diesel-electric submarines and AIP-type submarines are arguably one of the biggest threats to any naval operation. China has invested heavily in building a naval submarine force, including nuclear submarines, to implement the naval combat strategy of "coastal defense and far sea protection".
The submarine force has become an important combat unit in the Chinese Navy's construction of a synthetic, multi-functional and efficient maritime combat force system. It is an underwater mobile combat force used to improve strategic deterrence and counterattack, maritime mobile operations, maritime joint operations, comprehensive defense operations, and comprehensive support capabilities.
At present, the Chinese Navy's submarine force, which consists of attack nuclear submarines, cruise missile nuclear submarines, and strategic nuclear submarines, has attracted the most attention, but the Chinese Navy is equipped with a large number of diesel-electric and AIP-type submarines that are more focused on protecting China's surrounding waters such as the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, and the South China Sea from provocations by foreign maritime forces, and are still underwater combat forces that cannot be underestimated by the outside world.
A certain submarine detachment of the Navy in the Northern Theater of Operations, the first submarine unit of the Chinese Navy, said Colonel Wen Xing of a certain submarine detachment: "At present, our torpedo attacks and missile attacks have made a historic breakthrough in sea verification. This means that our combat capability is stronger and the operational sea area is more extensive. ”
CCTV announced that China's submarine force has achieved a historic technological breakthrough in the field of torpedoes and missiles, which undoubtedly demonstrates to the world the strong combat capability of the Chinese Navy's submarine force and its confidence in improving its strategic deterrence capability.