LKJ86
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China’s Submarine Fleet, Evolution & news
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cirr
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Next gen nuclear sub is just around the corner 
人民日报: 军代表为国之重器监工
16.09.2018, People's Daily
渤海海滨驻扎着一支监造新型潜艇的军代表队伍，该队伍肩负着对该型装备的质量监督和军舰验收重任。这支被誉为“国之重器”监造官的英雄监造团队，伴随着改革兴装强军的铿锵步履，攻坚克难、接续奋战，在监造某新型潜艇征途上，用青春、热血、智慧和汗水，向党和人民交出了一份合格的答卷。
国家利益举头顶
凌晨3点，某新型潜艇建造现场依然灯火通明。刚刚合龙完毕的潜艇静卧船台，代表室全体军代表与船厂近千名技术人员各就各位，严阵以待。“总体试水准备!”“打开一道阀!”“加压!”……一道道口令声中，潜艇各个部位压力表指针指向预定刻度。副总代表马俊带领总体组军代表，和工人一起钻进仅容一人爬行的舷间舱室，对身下超过数十倍大气压的“火药桶”进行检查，逐个点位确认后才会在军检单上签字。对军代表来说，签字就是履行国家责任：必须对装备、对历史负责!
总代表张森森清晰记得在报验单上的第一次签字。那时，毕业不到半年的他第一次独立承担潜艇安全阀军检任务。安全阀，看似不起眼的一个小部件，却对潜艇安全意义重大。为了准备这个签字，张森森提前学习相关工艺规范、军检标准。现场反复确认质量后，才郑重地签下了自己的名字。
位卑未敢忘忧国。潜艇装备从生产到交付，大概要过“十二道关”，而军代表就是最后一道质量屏障。军代表把关尺度和底线，直接决定装备战斗力。代表室召开的大会小会上，总代表张森森反复强调：“潜艇要用几十年，战友们可能整个军旅生涯都在一条艇上度过。不把最高标准的潜艇交出去，怎么对得起国家、对得起战友？”
质量责任担肩头
在监看平台，8块高清液晶屏依次排列，每10秒变换一次图像：画面中，弧光闪闪、焊花四溅，工人穿戴着防护设备焊接艇体壳圈;最后一块屏幕上，一排排跳动的曲线，实时显示着焊接作业的电流、电压、环境温湿度参数……这是一套由代表室自主推进研发的“数字化焊接管理平台及监控终端”。该系统的诞生，源于一个多年的难题：一直以来，在关乎潜艇“生命”的耐压艇体焊接工作中，不同电焊工完成同等任务，质量参差不齐，一旦出现问题还难追溯。
以前焊工技艺吃“经验饭”，要精准监督，必须走数字化军检的路子。为此，总体组军代表组织多家科研单位，经过反复试验，研制了这套耐压艇体焊接可视化、数字化监督系统。通过该系统对焊接全程实时监测和记录，实现焊接数据精准分析评估，保证了耐压艇体焊接质量和可追溯性，耐压壳圈焊接缺陷大幅减少，时间缩短2/3，在国内同业处于领先。
合格不是目标，优秀才是起点。代表室确立了“质量优良、性能可靠、工艺精致、外观精美”的工程目标，向行业前沿迈进：艇体外表面防腐，用上了高铁、港珠澳大桥的技术;保温材料，用上了航天发动机上的复合陶瓷保温层技术……“质量第一”的理念，贯彻于监造全过程。
奉献青春终不悔
投身潜艇监造，健康难免受影响。γ射线探伤，是工业上一种用于检查焊缝内部缺陷的方法，由于放射性比X射线强，工业上只在很小范围内使用。因该新型潜艇自身结构的特殊性，只得选用γ射线探伤。一条焊缝有缺陷，实战中就可能造成艇毁人亡。因此，不管放射性多强，每次探伤作业，军代表都坚守现场，每一道焊缝成像片子都要一一看过，有疑点的还要复查一遍。
面对国与家、得与失的抉择，这群军代表总是把使命高高举起，从未退却动摇。电气组组长袁阳和家人两地分居6年，每天晚饭后，视频通话成了袁阳的“必修课”，“宝贝乖，想爸爸了没有？你来说一下，我们的故事昨天讲到哪了？”视频中他眼看女儿一天天成长，笑称自己的孩子“在手机中长大”。军代表唐熊辉在试验现场一待就是几个月，孩子叫第一声爸爸，就是通过手机;副总代表高原是两个孩子的爸爸，参加试航曾错过孩子的出生和一周岁生日，手机是他与孩子们沟通的主渠道。
这样一支倾力投入事业的团队，收获了鲜花和掌声：先后3次荣立集体二等功，7人荣立个人二等功，200多人获得单项奖励……代表室全体军代表将自己的人生融入潜艇监造事业，军检单上每一个签字、计划表上每一次出航背后，都蕴含着他们无悔的奉献和付出。
(姚江、焦建仓、冀志轩参与采写)
《 人民日报 》( 2018年09月16日 06 版)
人民日报: 军代表为国之重器监工
16.09.2018, People's Daily
渤海海滨驻扎着一支监造新型潜艇的军代表队伍，该队伍肩负着对该型装备的质量监督和军舰验收重任。这支被誉为“国之重器”监造官的英雄监造团队，伴随着改革兴装强军的铿锵步履，攻坚克难、接续奋战，在监造某新型潜艇征途上，用青春、热血、智慧和汗水，向党和人民交出了一份合格的答卷。
国家利益举头顶
凌晨3点，某新型潜艇建造现场依然灯火通明。刚刚合龙完毕的潜艇静卧船台，代表室全体军代表与船厂近千名技术人员各就各位，严阵以待。“总体试水准备!”“打开一道阀!”“加压!”……一道道口令声中，潜艇各个部位压力表指针指向预定刻度。副总代表马俊带领总体组军代表，和工人一起钻进仅容一人爬行的舷间舱室，对身下超过数十倍大气压的“火药桶”进行检查，逐个点位确认后才会在军检单上签字。对军代表来说，签字就是履行国家责任：必须对装备、对历史负责!
总代表张森森清晰记得在报验单上的第一次签字。那时，毕业不到半年的他第一次独立承担潜艇安全阀军检任务。安全阀，看似不起眼的一个小部件，却对潜艇安全意义重大。为了准备这个签字，张森森提前学习相关工艺规范、军检标准。现场反复确认质量后，才郑重地签下了自己的名字。
位卑未敢忘忧国。潜艇装备从生产到交付，大概要过“十二道关”，而军代表就是最后一道质量屏障。军代表把关尺度和底线，直接决定装备战斗力。代表室召开的大会小会上，总代表张森森反复强调：“潜艇要用几十年，战友们可能整个军旅生涯都在一条艇上度过。不把最高标准的潜艇交出去，怎么对得起国家、对得起战友？”
质量责任担肩头
在监看平台，8块高清液晶屏依次排列，每10秒变换一次图像：画面中，弧光闪闪、焊花四溅，工人穿戴着防护设备焊接艇体壳圈;最后一块屏幕上，一排排跳动的曲线，实时显示着焊接作业的电流、电压、环境温湿度参数……这是一套由代表室自主推进研发的“数字化焊接管理平台及监控终端”。该系统的诞生，源于一个多年的难题：一直以来，在关乎潜艇“生命”的耐压艇体焊接工作中，不同电焊工完成同等任务，质量参差不齐，一旦出现问题还难追溯。
以前焊工技艺吃“经验饭”，要精准监督，必须走数字化军检的路子。为此，总体组军代表组织多家科研单位，经过反复试验，研制了这套耐压艇体焊接可视化、数字化监督系统。通过该系统对焊接全程实时监测和记录，实现焊接数据精准分析评估，保证了耐压艇体焊接质量和可追溯性，耐压壳圈焊接缺陷大幅减少，时间缩短2/3，在国内同业处于领先。
合格不是目标，优秀才是起点。代表室确立了“质量优良、性能可靠、工艺精致、外观精美”的工程目标，向行业前沿迈进：艇体外表面防腐，用上了高铁、港珠澳大桥的技术;保温材料，用上了航天发动机上的复合陶瓷保温层技术……“质量第一”的理念，贯彻于监造全过程。
奉献青春终不悔
投身潜艇监造，健康难免受影响。γ射线探伤，是工业上一种用于检查焊缝内部缺陷的方法，由于放射性比X射线强，工业上只在很小范围内使用。因该新型潜艇自身结构的特殊性，只得选用γ射线探伤。一条焊缝有缺陷，实战中就可能造成艇毁人亡。因此，不管放射性多强，每次探伤作业，军代表都坚守现场，每一道焊缝成像片子都要一一看过，有疑点的还要复查一遍。
面对国与家、得与失的抉择，这群军代表总是把使命高高举起，从未退却动摇。电气组组长袁阳和家人两地分居6年，每天晚饭后，视频通话成了袁阳的“必修课”，“宝贝乖，想爸爸了没有？你来说一下，我们的故事昨天讲到哪了？”视频中他眼看女儿一天天成长，笑称自己的孩子“在手机中长大”。军代表唐熊辉在试验现场一待就是几个月，孩子叫第一声爸爸，就是通过手机;副总代表高原是两个孩子的爸爸，参加试航曾错过孩子的出生和一周岁生日，手机是他与孩子们沟通的主渠道。
这样一支倾力投入事业的团队，收获了鲜花和掌声：先后3次荣立集体二等功，7人荣立个人二等功，200多人获得单项奖励……代表室全体军代表将自己的人生融入潜艇监造事业，军检单上每一个签字、计划表上每一次出航背后，都蕴含着他们无悔的奉献和付出。
(姚江、焦建仓、冀志轩参与采写)
《 人民日报 》( 2018年09月16日 06 版)
Last edited:
Akasa
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Next gen nuclear sub is just around the corner
人民日报: 军代表为国之重器监工
16.09.2018, People's Daily
渤海海滨驻扎着一支监造新型潜艇的军代表队伍，该队伍肩负着对该型装备的质量监督和军舰验收重任。这支被誉为“国之重器”监造官的英雄监造团队，伴随着改革兴装强军的铿锵步履，攻坚克难、接续奋战，在监造某新型潜艇征途上，用青春、热血、智慧和汗水，向党和人民交出了一份合格的答卷。
国家利益举头顶
凌晨3点，某新型潜艇建造现场依然灯火通明。刚刚合龙完毕的潜艇静卧船台，代表室全体军代表与船厂近千名技术人员各就各位，严阵以待。“总体试水准备!”“打开一道阀!”“加压!”……一道道口令声中，潜艇各个部位压力表指针指向预定刻度。副总代表马俊带领总体组军代表，和工人一起钻进仅容一人爬行的舷间舱室，对身下超过数十倍大气压的“火药桶”进行检查，逐个点位确认后才会在军检单上签字。对军代表来说，签字就是履行国家责任：必须对装备、对历史负责!
总代表张森森清晰记得在报验单上的第一次签字。那时，毕业不到半年的他第一次独立承担潜艇安全阀军检任务。安全阀，看似不起眼的一个小部件，却对潜艇安全意义重大。为了准备这个签字，张森森提前学习相关工艺规范、军检标准。现场反复确认质量后，才郑重地签下了自己的名字。
位卑未敢忘忧国。潜艇装备从生产到交付，大概要过“十二道关”，而军代表就是最后一道质量屏障。军代表把关尺度和底线，直接决定装备战斗力。代表室召开的大会小会上，总代表张森森反复强调：“潜艇要用几十年，战友们可能整个军旅生涯都在一条艇上度过。不把最高标准的潜艇交出去，怎么对得起国家、对得起战友？”
质量责任担肩头
在监看平台，8块高清液晶屏依次排列，每10秒变换一次图像：画面中，弧光闪闪、焊花四溅，工人穿戴着防护设备焊接艇体壳圈;最后一块屏幕上，一排排跳动的曲线，实时显示着焊接作业的电流、电压、环境温湿度参数……这是一套由代表室自主推进研发的“数字化焊接管理平台及监控终端”。该系统的诞生，源于一个多年的难题：一直以来，在关乎潜艇“生命”的耐压艇体焊接工作中，不同电焊工完成同等任务，质量参差不齐，一旦出现问题还难追溯。
以前焊工技艺吃“经验饭”，要精准监督，必须走数字化军检的路子。为此，总体组军代表组织多家科研单位，经过反复试验，研制了这套耐压艇体焊接可视化、数字化监督系统。通过该系统对焊接全程实时监测和记录，实现焊接数据精准分析评估，保证了耐压艇体焊接质量和可追溯性，耐压壳圈焊接缺陷大幅减少，时间缩短2/3，在国内同业处于领先。
合格不是目标，优秀才是起点。代表室确立了“质量优良、性能可靠、工艺精致、外观精美”的工程目标，向行业前沿迈进：艇体外表面防腐，用上了高铁、港珠澳大桥的技术;保温材料，用上了航天发动机上的复合陶瓷保温层技术……“质量第一”的理念，贯彻于监造全过程。
奉献青春终不悔
投身潜艇监造，健康难免受影响。γ射线探伤，是工业上一种用于检查焊缝内部缺陷的方法，由于放射性比X射线强，工业上只在很小范围内使用。因该新型潜艇自身结构的特殊性，只得选用γ射线探伤。一条焊缝有缺陷，实战中就可能造成艇毁人亡。因此，不管放射性多强，每次探伤作业，军代表都坚守现场，每一道焊缝成像片子都要一一看过，有疑点的还要复查一遍。
面对国与家、得与失的抉择，这群军代表总是把使命高高举起，从未退却动摇。电气组组长袁阳和家人两地分居6年，每天晚饭后，视频通话成了袁阳的“必修课”，“宝贝乖，想爸爸了没有？你来说一下，我们的故事昨天讲到哪了？”视频中他眼看女儿一天天成长，笑称自己的孩子“在手机中长大”。军代表唐熊辉在试验现场一待就是几个月，孩子叫第一声爸爸，就是通过手机;副总代表高原是两个孩子的爸爸，参加试航曾错过孩子的出生和一周岁生日，手机是他与孩子们沟通的主渠道。
这样一支倾力投入事业的团队，收获了鲜花和掌声：先后3次荣立集体二等功，7人荣立个人二等功，200多人获得单项奖励……代表室全体军代表将自己的人生融入潜艇监造事业，军检单上每一个签字、计划表上每一次出航背后，都蕴含着他们无悔的奉献和付出。
(姚江、焦建仓、冀志轩参与采写)
《 人民日报 》( 2018年09月16日 06 版)
Let's hold our horses for a moment. Nowhere in the article was it indicated that this particular boat is a nuclear-powered one, much less a supposedly next-generation vessel. The article did not reveal where it was being built, when the reporting took place, or even a half-accurate description of the boat. Too many unknowns with too many premature conclusions.
jaybird
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Actually the article's first sentence already mention these military representative/inspectors is stationed at Bohai seashore. And Huludao is located at Bohai sea. Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry is the only Chinese shipyard who can built Nuclear submarines.
Although it didn't explicitly say this was a nuclear submarine that was almost finish. But it does say it was a "new type" of submarine they were inspecting and with a unique structure. So, it's very possible this was a 095 or 096.
And it also mention from submarine production to delivery, it takes around 12 stages. Military representatives quality inspections is the last stage before delivery to the PLAN. So, cirr speculate "Next-generation is just around the corner." is not that outlandish of a conclusion.
cirr
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Akasa
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Actually the article's first sentence already mention these military representative/inspectors is stationed at Bohai seashore. And Huludao is located at Bohai sea. Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry is the only Chinese shipyard who can built Nuclear submarines.
Although it didn't explicitly say this was a nuclear submarine that was almost finish. But it does say it was a "new type" of submarine they were inspecting and with a unique structure. So, it's very possible this was a 095 or 096.
And it also mention from submarine production to delivery, it takes around 12 stages. Military representatives quality inspections is the last stage before delivery to the PLAN. So, cirr speculate "Next-generation is just around the corner." is not that outlandish of a conclusion.
You are correct that I missed the "Bohai" in the first paragraph, but my other points still stand. We don't know if it is a new class of submarines and we certainly don't know what type (SSN or SSBN) is being allegedly constructed.
Although the phrase "刚刚合龙完毕的潜艇静卧船台" could be interpreted as stating that the submarine is nearing completion.
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Will China’s new laser satellite become the ‘Death Star’ for submarines? | South China Morning Post
Scientists are working on a device they hope will be able to reveal the location of a target as far as 500 metres below the ocean surface
PUBLISHED : Monday, 01 October, 2018, 8:33am
UPDATED : Monday, 01 October, 2018, 11:22am
Stephen Chen
China is developing a satellite with a powerful laser for anti-submarine warfare that researchers hope will be able to pinpoint a target as far as 500 metres below the surface.
It is the latest addition to the country’s expanding deep-sea surveillance programme, and aside from targeting submarines – most operate at a depth of less than 500 metres – it could also be used to collect data on the world’s oceans.
Project Guanlan, meaning “watching the big waves”, was officially launched in May at the Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology in Qingdao, Shandong. It aims to strengthen China’s surveillance activities in the world’s oceans, according to the laboratory’s website.
Scientists are working on the satellite’s design at the laboratory, but its key components are being developed by more than 20 research institutes and universities across the country.
Song Xiaoquan, a researcher involved in the project, said if the team can develop the satellite as planned, it will make the upper layer of the sea “more or less transparent”.
“It will change almost everything,” Song said.
While light dims 1,000 times faster in water than in the air, and the sun can penetrate no more than 200 metres below the ocean surface, a powerful artificial laser beam can be 1 billion times brighter than the sun. But this project is ambitious – naval researchers have tried for more than half a century to develop a laser spotlight for hunting submarines using technology known as light detection and ranging (lidar).
In theory, it works like this – when a laser beam hits a submarine, some pulses bounce back. They are then picked up by sensors and analysed by computer to determine the target’s location, speed and three-dimensional shape.
But in real life, lidar technology can be affected by the device’s power limitations, as well as cloud, fog, murky water – and even marine life such as fish and whales.
Added to that, the laser beam deflects and scatters as it travels from one body of water to another, making it more of a challenge to get a precise calculation.
Experiments carried out by the United States and former Soviet Union achieved maximum detection depths of less than 100 metres, according to openly available information.
That range has been extended in recent years by the US in research funded by Nasa and the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). A device developed by DARPA, for example, was mounted on a spy plane and achieved reliable results at a depth of 200 metres, detecting targets as small as sea mines.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE?
But some doubt whether the Chinese team will be able to go any further with its device.
“Five hundred metres is ‘mission impossible’,” said a lidar scientist with the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who is not involved in the project.
“They [project researchers] won’t be able to break through the darkness guarded by Mother Nature – unless of course they are Tom Cruise, armed with some secret weapons,” said the researcher, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Still, the government has agreed to fund the research – in part because the team has come up with an innovative approach that has not been tried before, according to a scientist involved in the project who was also speaking on condition of anonymity.
The device is designed to generate high-power laser beam pulses in different colours, or frequencies, that allow sensitive receivers to pick up more information from various depths. Those laser beams can scan an area as wide as 100km, or concentrate on one spot just 1km wide.
It will be used in conjunction with a microwave radar, also mounted on the satellite, to better identify targets. Although the radar cannot penetrate water, it can measure the surface movement with extremely high accuracy – so when a moving submarine creates small disturbances on the surface, for example, the radar will tell the satellite where to throw the laser beam.
The satellite will use lidar technology and a microwave radar to identify targets. Image: Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology
Once it has been developed, the laser device is likely to be made by the Xian Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shaanxi province. The institute gained attention recently for the lightweight laser weapons it is developing, particularly a device the size of an assault rifle that it claims can set fire to a targetfrom nearly 1km away.
Zhang Tinglu, another researcher involved in the project, said the main target for the satellite was the thermocline – a thin layer of water where the temperature changes abruptly.
He declined to elaborate on the role of the satellite in anti-sub warfare, but the thermocline is known to be important for submarine captains because it can reflect active sonar and other acoustic signals. That means a vessel could potentially avoid detection in the thermocline, but not by a laser beam.
Song said the team aimed to use every available sensing method to achieve the maximum possible depth of detection.
“Sometimes there may not be enough light to reach 500 metres and back, but we can still try to work out what’s down there by taking an indirect measurement at a shallower depth,” he said.
The laboratory has yet to give any indication as to when the satellite will be ready, but Song said the team was under pressure. “There’s still heaps of problems that we need to solve,” he said.
SURVEILLANCE NETWORK
China has been investing heavily in military hardware, including anti-submarine technology, as it grows increasingly assertive in the region and beyond.
Last year, Chinese scientists claimed to have made a breakthrough in magnetic detection technology with a device that can monitor tiny disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field caused by metallic objects such as submarines.
Researchers are also working on sensors using cutting-edge quantum technology to chase the gravitational abnormality that a submarine creates in a large body of water.
China has planted listening devices near Guam, which is home to America’s biggest military base in the western Pacific. Photo: Reuters
Powerful listening devices have also been planted in strategic seabeds near the American naval base in Guam and in the South China Sea, some of which can “hear” low-frequency sounds from more than 1,000km away.
China is also developing underwater gliders and high-speed underwater drones to collect information on a large scale in global waters.
The world’s next fastest supercomputer will help boost China’s growing sea power
At the national marine science lab in Qingdao, researchers are working on an exascale supercomputer called “Deep Blue Brain” that, when completed in 2020, aims to be the most powerful computer on the planet – about 1,000 times faster than the fastest computers today.
That project also ties in with the laser device – data collected by the satellite and other assets in China’s global ocean surveillance network will be streamed to the supercomputer in Qingdao for research and analysis.
The laboratory’s website says the supercomputer will then use the masses of data along with artificial intelligence to recreate the world’s oceans, in unprecedented detail, in digital form. The Chinese government says it wants to use that “virtual ocean” to help forecast events ranging from extreme weather to the likely outcome of a sea battle, based on the conditions.
Scientists are working on a device they hope will be able to reveal the location of a target as far as 500 metres below the ocean surface
PUBLISHED : Monday, 01 October, 2018, 8:33am
UPDATED : Monday, 01 October, 2018, 11:22am
Stephen Chen
China is developing a satellite with a powerful laser for anti-submarine warfare that researchers hope will be able to pinpoint a target as far as 500 metres below the surface.
It is the latest addition to the country’s expanding deep-sea surveillance programme, and aside from targeting submarines – most operate at a depth of less than 500 metres – it could also be used to collect data on the world’s oceans.
Project Guanlan, meaning “watching the big waves”, was officially launched in May at the Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology in Qingdao, Shandong. It aims to strengthen China’s surveillance activities in the world’s oceans, according to the laboratory’s website.
Scientists are working on the satellite’s design at the laboratory, but its key components are being developed by more than 20 research institutes and universities across the country.
Song Xiaoquan, a researcher involved in the project, said if the team can develop the satellite as planned, it will make the upper layer of the sea “more or less transparent”.
“It will change almost everything,” Song said.
While light dims 1,000 times faster in water than in the air, and the sun can penetrate no more than 200 metres below the ocean surface, a powerful artificial laser beam can be 1 billion times brighter than the sun. But this project is ambitious – naval researchers have tried for more than half a century to develop a laser spotlight for hunting submarines using technology known as light detection and ranging (lidar).
In theory, it works like this – when a laser beam hits a submarine, some pulses bounce back. They are then picked up by sensors and analysed by computer to determine the target’s location, speed and three-dimensional shape.
But in real life, lidar technology can be affected by the device’s power limitations, as well as cloud, fog, murky water – and even marine life such as fish and whales.
Added to that, the laser beam deflects and scatters as it travels from one body of water to another, making it more of a challenge to get a precise calculation.
Experiments carried out by the United States and former Soviet Union achieved maximum detection depths of less than 100 metres, according to openly available information.
That range has been extended in recent years by the US in research funded by Nasa and the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). A device developed by DARPA, for example, was mounted on a spy plane and achieved reliable results at a depth of 200 metres, detecting targets as small as sea mines.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE?
But some doubt whether the Chinese team will be able to go any further with its device.
“Five hundred metres is ‘mission impossible’,” said a lidar scientist with the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who is not involved in the project.
“They [project researchers] won’t be able to break through the darkness guarded by Mother Nature – unless of course they are Tom Cruise, armed with some secret weapons,” said the researcher, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Still, the government has agreed to fund the research – in part because the team has come up with an innovative approach that has not been tried before, according to a scientist involved in the project who was also speaking on condition of anonymity.
The device is designed to generate high-power laser beam pulses in different colours, or frequencies, that allow sensitive receivers to pick up more information from various depths. Those laser beams can scan an area as wide as 100km, or concentrate on one spot just 1km wide.
It will be used in conjunction with a microwave radar, also mounted on the satellite, to better identify targets. Although the radar cannot penetrate water, it can measure the surface movement with extremely high accuracy – so when a moving submarine creates small disturbances on the surface, for example, the radar will tell the satellite where to throw the laser beam.
Once it has been developed, the laser device is likely to be made by the Xian Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shaanxi province. The institute gained attention recently for the lightweight laser weapons it is developing, particularly a device the size of an assault rifle that it claims can set fire to a targetfrom nearly 1km away.
Zhang Tinglu, another researcher involved in the project, said the main target for the satellite was the thermocline – a thin layer of water where the temperature changes abruptly.
He declined to elaborate on the role of the satellite in anti-sub warfare, but the thermocline is known to be important for submarine captains because it can reflect active sonar and other acoustic signals. That means a vessel could potentially avoid detection in the thermocline, but not by a laser beam.
Song said the team aimed to use every available sensing method to achieve the maximum possible depth of detection.
“Sometimes there may not be enough light to reach 500 metres and back, but we can still try to work out what’s down there by taking an indirect measurement at a shallower depth,” he said.
The laboratory has yet to give any indication as to when the satellite will be ready, but Song said the team was under pressure. “There’s still heaps of problems that we need to solve,” he said.
SURVEILLANCE NETWORK
China has been investing heavily in military hardware, including anti-submarine technology, as it grows increasingly assertive in the region and beyond.
Last year, Chinese scientists claimed to have made a breakthrough in magnetic detection technology with a device that can monitor tiny disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field caused by metallic objects such as submarines.
Researchers are also working on sensors using cutting-edge quantum technology to chase the gravitational abnormality that a submarine creates in a large body of water.
Powerful listening devices have also been planted in strategic seabeds near the American naval base in Guam and in the South China Sea, some of which can “hear” low-frequency sounds from more than 1,000km away.
China is also developing underwater gliders and high-speed underwater drones to collect information on a large scale in global waters.
The world’s next fastest supercomputer will help boost China’s growing sea power
At the national marine science lab in Qingdao, researchers are working on an exascale supercomputer called “Deep Blue Brain” that, when completed in 2020, aims to be the most powerful computer on the planet – about 1,000 times faster than the fastest computers today.
That project also ties in with the laser device – data collected by the satellite and other assets in China’s global ocean surveillance network will be streamed to the supercomputer in Qingdao for research and analysis.
The laboratory’s website says the supercomputer will then use the masses of data along with artificial intelligence to recreate the world’s oceans, in unprecedented detail, in digital form. The Chinese government says it wants to use that “virtual ocean” to help forecast events ranging from extreme weather to the likely outcome of a sea battle, based on the conditions.
The hump actually looks very streamline. I don't think it will contributed too much to signature noise. This Type 094 shall be much quiet.
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