Zarvan
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2011
- Messages
- 54,470
- Reaction score
- 87
- Country
- Location
Hong Kong(CNN)Military watchers across the internet were provided with a rare sight after photos circulated this week that appear to show a Chinese submarine using an underground base on Hainan Island on the South China Sea.
The satellite image from American imaging company Planet Labs, first posted on the social media accounts of Radio Free Asia, shows what appears to be a Type 093 nuclear-powered attack submarine entering a tunnel to an underground berth on Yulin Naval Base.
It immediately drew comparisons to what might be seen in a spy movie, with one Twitter user just posting the words "Bond, James Bond" in reaction to the photo. Others made reference to the fictional Nautilus, from Jules Verne's novel "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."
And tunnels can make that frustrating for US military planners, said Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center.
"You have no evidence of (the submarine's) combat readiness, operational response times and availability," he said. "Tunnels blind potential opponents to the submarines' operating status and patterns, denying them the ability to determine the state of China's military preparations, knowledge critical to assessing China's intentions and plans."
As for the submarine itself, if it is one a Type 093, it would be one of as many as six in the Chinese fleet, according to the nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative.
The Type 093 comes in three versions and can be armed with torpedoes and cruise missiles, it said.
Satellite photos appear to show Chinese submarine using underground base
Military watchers across the internet were provided with a rare sight after photos circulated this week that appear to show a Chinese submarine using an underground base on Hainan Island on the South China Sea.
amp.cnn.com
