At 5 a.m. on June 18, a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) of the Chinese Navy suddenly surfaced about 200 kilometers off Taiwan's west coast near the so-called "median line of the strait," much to the surprise of Penghu fishermen who witnessed the scene.
Immediately, an unidentified surface ship arrived at the scene, accompanying the huge ballistic missile nuclear submarine that had surfaced and sailed in the direction of Chinese mainland.
The PLA Navy's strategic nuclear submarine suddenly surfaced in the Taiwan Strait, and it seems that the media on the island had never reported it in detail before. It can be seen that the PLA's strategic nuclear submarine move is somewhat extraordinary after Taiwan (province) has changed the leader of the administrative department.
This is not a frying pan on the island, and the media immediately followed up with the hot speculation, and soon there was a "frog" chirping. So much so that the island's defense had to stand up and shout: quiet, quiet, please be quiet! The military "mastered" the situation.
Another military fan on the island speculated that this is China's latest Type 096 "Tang"-class strategic nuclear submarine based on the photos. Island media said that due to mechanical failure, the nuclear submarine surfaced in the Taiwan Strait and did not dive all the way. Escorted by other warships, it left the Taiwan Strait.
The sudden rise of this PLA's strategic nuclear submarine in the Taiwan Strait is by no means a "mechanical failure" as the island media said, but a deliberate upward movement, exposing its own whereabouts is to imply its nuclear deterrence capability and highlight the existence of the PLA in the Taiwan Strait.
The navy of the Eastern Theater did not set up a nuclear submarine detachment, and this strategic nuclear submarine was subordinate to a certain nuclear submarine detachment of the Navy of the Southern Theater. On June 18, Penghu fishermen discovered that they were sailing through the Taiwan Strait to a shipyard in Huludao, located in the north, for regular maintenance.
This nuclear submarine passed through the Taiwan Strait and went north for maintenance, with the aim of making a shortcut. The so-called waters near the "middle line of the strait" in Taiwan have a water depth of only about 45 meters, and the underwater terrain is complex, which is not conducive to the submarine navigation of nuclear submarines.
Under the escort of relevant surface ships of the People's Liberation Army, this nuclear submarine went to the shipyard for maintenance or upgrades, and the Taiwan Strait not only saves time, but also improves the safety factor.
There is a precedent for the Chinese Navy's nuclear submarines to float, and once took the initiative to float in the East China Sea and hoisted the national flag. This scene happened to be seen by the surface ships of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and it was discovered that the nuclear submarine had just passed through the Miyako Strait, and it had previously sailed to the western Pacific, but it was not detected by the naval and air anti-submarine forces of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
Judging from the pictures on the Internet, netizens who have a little knowledge of nuclear submarines related to the Chinese Navy can judge that this is not the so-called Type 096 "Tang" class strategic nuclear submarine, but the Chinese Navy's current Type 094A "Jin" class strategic nuclear submarine.
With such an obvious existence of "turtle back", how can this PLA nuclear submarine be Type 096. The so-called "major military news" published by the island media is really speechless, and it seems that it has to make up for the knowledge of the PLA's relevant nuclear submarines.
The 096 "Tang" class is the latest strategic nuclear submarine of the Chinese Navy, and so far, domestic and foreign netizens, intelligence personnel, and think tank researchers who have paid attention to the dynamics of the Chinese Navy have only heard of its name, but have never seen the true face of this famous strategic nuclear submarine.
The relevant performance indicators and other parameters of the Type 096 strategic nuclear submarine on the Internet are also speculated by foreign military websites and domestic self-media authors, and have not been officially and publicly disclosed by the Chinese military and authoritative media.
In addition, the relevant pictures of the Type 096 strategic nuclear submarine on the Internet are also CG renderings carefully made by enthusiastic netizens based on the relevant information they have on the computer, and they are not real photos of the Type 096 strategic nuclear submarine.
The Type 096 strategic nuclear submarine, judging from the relevant performance indicators, is China's most cutting-edge underwater nuclear strike mobile platform, which can be called the "important weapon of the country"; its tonnage, speed, number of vertical launch units on board, specific models of submarine-launched intercontinental missiles, missile range, and explosive power of projectiles are all strictly secret, and they will not be announced to the public, and they can play a huge role in strategic deterrence.
As a cutting-edge Type 096 strategic nuclear submarine of the Chinese Navy, due to the increase in the diameter of the pressure-resistant shell, the "turtle back" phenomenon that is extremely obvious on the Type 092/094 strategic nuclear submarine is basically not obvious on the Type 096. If you don't look closely, it's roughly similar to an attack nuclear submarine.