October 16, 2020: In mid-2020 Chinese media featured stories about another Type 93G SSN (nuclear attack submarine) entering service. This would be the sixth or seventh Type 93. A seventh Type 93 was unexpected as the next new SSN was supposed to be the first of the new Type 95 SSNs. Such unexpected news is not surprising. China is very secretive about its nuclear submarine program and, even with lots of photo satellite coverage, it is difficult to keep an accurate count on how many are actually in service and what is coming next.

2020年10月16日：2020年中，中国媒体报道了另一艘093G型核攻击潜艇（SSN）投入使用的报道。 这将是第六艘或第七艘093型。第七艘093型出乎意料，因为下一艘新的核攻击潜艇（SSN）应该是新的095型SSN中的第一艘。这样的意外消息不足为奇。中国对其核潜艇计划非常保密，即使有大量的照相卫星覆盖，也很难准确地计算出实际服役的数量以及接下来要服役的数量。

 

Sometimes newly launched SSNs spend an exceptionally long time getting ready for service and sea trials. Nuclear subs can stay submerged all the time and are often docked in berths in caves or with roofs. Given this degree of secrecy the U.S. Navy, which is very interested in detecting and tracking Chinese nuclear subs, won’t reveal much about what they know. That’s because if the Americans do have an accurate count of Chinese nuclear boats and their movements, they don’t want the Chinese to know about and it and change their concealment measures.

有时，新推出的SSN需要花费非常长的时间来准备服役和试航。核潜艇可以一直潜没在水下，通常停泊在洞穴或顶棚下的泊位中。鉴于这种保密程度，对推测和追踪中国核潜艇非常感兴趣的美国海军不会透露太多他们所知道的东西。 那是因为，如果美国人确实掌握了中国核艇及其动向的准确数字，他们就不希望中国人知道并掌握其隐瞒措施。

 

Meanwhile this latest Type 93G featured some minor changes in hull shape and no official indication of what that means. While the Type 93s are meant to emulate the American Los Angeles class SSNs, the Type 95 was supposed to be the Chinese answer to the new U.S. Navy Virginia class SSNs. Each of the Type 93s featured some changes, indicating the Chinese were using this class of SSN to practice building all the features that make the most modern SSNs, like the American Virginias, so effective.

同时，这艘最新的093G型在艇体形状上有一些细微变化，但没有官方说明。093型是模仿美国洛杉矶级核攻击潜艇（SSN）的，而095型应该是中国对新型美国海军弗吉尼亚级核攻击潜艇（SSN）的回应。093型的每一艘都有一些变化，表明中国人正在使用这级核攻击潜艇（SSN）来实践使最现代化的核攻击潜艇（SSN）具有所有特点，例如美国弗吉尼亚州，如此有效。

 

For example, in 2016 China released photos and some details of its new Type 93G and created a buzz among naval officers worldwide. The Type 93G was basically the original Type 93 design but with VLS (vertical launch system) tubes added, behind the sail for, carrying anti-ship and cruise missiles. This was a feature pioneered with the later models of the U.S. Los Angeles class of subs. There was immediate speculation that the new shape of the hull in the 93G would make these subs quieter and more difficult to detect. That won’t be known until these boats spend some time at sea, where subs from other navies can stalk and monitor the 93Gs in action and measure changes in noise.

例如，2016年中国发布了其新型093G型的照片和一些细节，并在全球海军军官中引起了轰动。093G型基本上是原始093型的设计，但在舰桥后面增加了垂直发射系统（VLS）管，携带反舰和巡航导弹。这是美国洛杉矶级潜艇的后续型号首创的功能。立即有人猜测，093G型艇体的新形状将使这些潜艇更安静且更难探测。直到这些潜艇在海上停留一段时间，其他海军的潜艇才能在行动中跟踪和监视093G型并测量噪声变化，才知道这一点。

 

The U.S. pioneered the use of collecting samples of undersea noise caused by friendly and enemy subs, as well as surface ships and all manner of sea creatures, and using that growing sound library with faster computers to quickly find matches to any sound a sub detects underwater. This system is now widely used by other navies.

美国率先利用收集友好潜艇和敌方潜艇以及水面舰艇和各种海洋生物引起的海底噪声的样本，并利用不断增长的声音库和更快的计算机快速查找与潜艇在水下探测到的任何声音的匹配 。现在，该系统已被其他海军广泛使用。

 

The mid-2016 Chinese press event for the Type 93G was also part of a new openness about nuclear subs that China began in late 2013 when they presented their nuclear subs in the Chinese media for the first time. The theme for this event was that in 42 years of operation no Chinese nuclear sub has ever suffered a nuclear reactor accident. This was an indirect dig at the Russians, who are the only nation with nuclear subs to have suffered nuclear accidents, lots of them. Chatter indicates that the older Russian nukes still in service are notorious for the radiation leakage that results in crewmembers getting transferred to another job because they have been exposed to so much radiation that more exposure would cause medical (and morale) problems. Russia has reduced the radiation levels on its more recent designs, but their radiation leakage is still the highest of any nukes in service. China did a better job controlling the radiation leaks, but not a lot better than the Russians. Chinese nukes borrowed a lot of tech and design concepts from the Russians.

2016年中旬，中国093G型新闻发布会也是中国于2013年底开始对核潜艇进行新开放的一部分，当时他们首次在中国媒体上展示了其核潜艇。这次活动的主题是，在42年运行中，中国核潜艇没有发生过核反应堆事故。这是对俄罗斯的间接挖苦，俄罗斯是唯一一个拥有核潜艇的国家，其中很多人都遭受了核事故。Chatte指出，仍在服役的较老式的俄罗斯核武器因辐射泄漏而臭名昭著，辐射泄漏导致机组人员被转移到另一个工作岗位，因为他们受到的辐射过多，以至于更多的辐射将导致医疗（和士气）问题。俄罗斯在其最新设计中降低了辐射水平，但其辐射泄漏仍然是所有使用中核武器最高的。中国在控制辐射泄漏方面做得更好，但并不比俄罗斯好很多。中国从俄罗斯那里借鉴了很多技术和设计概念。

 

Since the 1950s several hundred billion dollars has been spent on developing and building nuclear powered submarines. Some 300 have been built so far, most of them Russian. Nuclear subs have been used in combat only once, in 1982, when a British SSN sank an Argentinean cruiser. When the Cold War ended Russia began scrapping its large nuclear sub fleet, which included dozens of older boats that were more trouble than they were worth to maintain. With the demise of the Russian sub fleet, the U.S. Navy submarine force, which peaked at 100 boats at the end of the Cold War, shrank to about 50 today. China currently has about fifteen nuclear subs in operation (eight SSNs and seven SSBNs) and their track record since the 1970s has been dismal. The early Chinese SSNs are noisy (easy for Western sensors to detect) and unreliable. Each new Chinese nuclear sub appears to be quieter and more reliable, a development method favored by the Chinese. Their SSNs rarely go to sea, which is one reason they have had no nuclear accidents. Chinese SSBNs (ballistic missile carrying nuclear subs) are basically enlarged SSNs and have never been on a combat patrol, just brief training missions. China insists it has fixed a lot of noise and reliability problems with the Type 93G.

自1950年以来，已经花费了数千亿美元用于开发和建造核动力潜艇。到目前为止，已经建造了300艘，其中大多数是俄罗斯。1982年，英国核攻击潜艇（SSN）击沉了一艘阿根廷巡洋舰时，核潜艇仅用于实际作战一次。冷战结束后，俄罗斯开始报废其庞大的核潜艇舰队，其中包括数十艘较老式的潜艇，这些潜艇的麻烦超过了其维修价值。随着俄罗斯潜艇舰队的消亡，美国海军潜艇部队在冷战结束时达到了100艘的顶峰，如今已缩减至约50艘。中国目前有大约15艘正在运行的核潜艇（8艘SSN和7艘SSBN），自1970年以来，它们的战绩令人沮丧。早期的中国核攻击潜艇（SSN）嘈杂（西方传感器很容易探测到）并且不可靠。中国的每艘新核潜艇似乎都变得更安静，更可靠，这是中国人青睐的一种发展方法。他们的核攻击潜艇（SSN）很少出海，这就是他们没有发生核事故的原因之一。中国的SSBN（携带弹道导弹的核潜艇）基本上是尺寸扩大的SSN，从未进行过战斗巡逻，只是进行简短的训练任务。中国坚持认为它已经解决了093G型在噪音和可靠性方面的许多问题。

 

It took nearly a decade of planning, construction, and tinkering to get the first Chinese nuclear sub, the Type 91 Long March No. 1, into service back in 1974. The first SSN was definitely a learning experience, not entering service until the mid-1980s. The Type 91s are small (4,100 tons) as far as SSN’s go and have a crew of about 75 sailors. French sonar was installed, and a lot of the other electronics came from foreign suppliers. The 091s were more dangerous to their crews than to any enemy. Radiation leaks and general unreliability made these boats, which entered service in the 1970s, much feared by Chinese sailors. In the 1980s it was thought the Chinese would just scrap this class but they kept repairing and updating them. The 91s are hopelessly out of date but five were built. Two have been retired and one of those is being turned into a museum ship. The 91s rarely went to sea, although that has changed recently. Apparently the 091s are being used for training crews, a task that is unaffected by inability of these noisy boats to stay hidden when submerged.

1974年，中国花费了将近十年的规划，建造和修补工作，才使第一艘中国核潜艇长征一号091型投入服役。第一艘SSN绝对是一次学习经历，直到1980年中期才投入服役。就SSN而言，091型小巧（4,100吨），大约有75名人员。安装了法国声纳，其他许多电子设备也来自国外供应商。091对他们的人员比对任何敌人都更加危险。这些辐射泄漏和普遍的不可靠性使这些在70年代服役的潜艇受到了中国船员的极大担忧。在80年代，人们认为中国人只会放弃该级潜艇，但他们一直在修理和更新。091型已经陈旧了，但是已经建造了五艘。其中两艘已经退役，其中一艘正在改装成博物馆船。091型很少出海，尽管最近情况有所改变。显然091是用于训练船员的，这项任务不受这些嘈杂潜艇下潜后无法隐藏的影响。

 

Their first generation Chinese SSBN, the 6,500 ton 092 entered service in the early 1980s. The design was familiar, as it was a stretched version of the 091 class SSNs. The 92 SSBNs had only four missile tubes and rarely went to sea. The Chinese spent a lot of time developing solutions to all these problems, before building the following 93 and 94 classes.

他们的第一代中国国产核导弹潜艇（SSBN），6,500吨092型在1980年初投入服役。设计很熟悉，因为它是091级SSN的增大版本。092型SSBN仅拥有4个导弹管，很少出海。中国花了很多时间来开发所有这些问题的解决方案，然后再建造后续93型和94型。

 

The Type 93 class SSNs begin to appear in 2002. This class was also obsolete at birth, and the first of the new Type 95 class was thought to have been launched in 2010 and expected to enter service in 2015. That has not happened and little is known about how this new class is being developed. The “Type 95” launched in 2010 turned out to be another Type 93 and, like other boats in that class, looked different than the previous Type 93.

093型核攻击潜艇（SSN）于2002年开始出现。该级在诞生时就已级过时了，并且第一艘新的095型据认为已于2010年下水，并有望在2015年投入服役。关于这个新一级如何开发的，人们知之甚少。2010年下水的“ 095型”竟然是另一艘93型，就像该级别的其他潜艇一样，看上去与以前的093型不同。

 

The basic shape of the Type 93s is a lot like the three-decade old Russian Victor III class. The subsequent Type 94 SSBN looks like a Victor III with a missile compartment added. Taking a SSN design and adding extra compartments to hold the ballistic missiles is an old trick, pioneered by the United States in the 1950s to produce the first SSBNs. The Chinese appear to have done the same thing with their new SSN, creating a larger SSBN boat of 9,000 tons displacement. Priority was apparently given to construction of the 94, as having nuclear missiles able to reach the United States gives China more diplomatic clout than some new SSNs. Despite all the money and effort put into SSBNs, the Chinese have not sent many of them out to sea armed with reliable SLBMs (sea launched ballistic missiles). That appears to have changed in 2020 with a successful test a Chinese SLBM. Yet more test firings are needed before an effective Chinese SSBN will be available to threaten the United States.

093型的基本外形非常像具有三十年历史的俄罗斯Victor III级。 随后的94型SSBN看起来像是增加导弹舱的Victor III级。采用SSN设计并增加额外的舱室来容纳弹道导弹是一个古老的技巧，美国在50年代率先建制了第一艘SSBN。中国人似乎对他们的新SSN做了同样的事情，建造了一艘更大的9,000吨排水量的SSBN。 显然，优先考虑建造094型，因为拥有能够到达美国的核导弹能力比一些新的SSN赋予了中国更大的外交影响力。 尽管在SSBN上投入了资金和精力，但中国并没有将其中许多的潜艇装备上可靠的SLBM（海上发射弹道导弹）出海。 随着中国SLBM的成功测试，这种情况在2020年似乎已经改变。在有效的中国SSBN威胁美国之前，还需要进行更多的试射。

 

China was apparently underwhelmed by the performance of Type 93 class SSNs. Not much more was expected from the 94 SSBNs. The 93s are too noisy and have a long list of more minor defects as well. The Chinese have had a hard time building reliable nuclear subs, but they are determined to acquire the needed skills. You do that by building more and more new subs while eating your mistakes. The U.S. believes that if China develops SSN and SSBN designs nearly as effective as Western models, they will build a lot of them. Thus, by the 2040s China could have the most powerful navy in the world. Meanwhile, China is still a minor naval power once you take into account their small nuclear submarine force.

中国显然没有被093型SSN的表现打动。094型SSBN预期不会更多。 093型噪音太吵了，还有很多较细微的缺陷。中国很难建造可靠的核潜艇，但他们决心要获得所需的技术。可以通过在解决错误的同时建造越来越多的新潜艇来做到这一点。 美国认为，如果中国发展的SSN和SSBN设计几乎与西方型号一样有效，那么他们会建造很多。因此，到2040年，中国将拥有世界上最强大的海军。同时，如果考虑到中国小规模核潜艇力量，中国仍然是次要海军力量。