- A Planet Labs satellite has captured a rare image of a Chinese submarine at what is believed to be the entrance to a submarine tunnel at a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) base on Hainan Island.
- Yulin Naval Base, a strategic outpost in the South China Sea, is home to nuclear-powered rapid attack and ballistic missile submarines.
- Experts claim that the tunnels provide the basic protection and significant benefits through deception.
- Visit the Business Insider website for more stories.
A commercial satellite from Planet Labs this week managed to take a rare photo of a Chinese submarine at what observers believe is the entrance to a secret submarine cave at a strategically important naval base.
The photo, first posted online by Radio Free Asia, shows a Chinese Type 093 Shang-class nuclear-powered rapid attack submarine at Yulin Naval Base on Hainan in the South China Sea, The War Zone reported.
The main base sits at a strategic gateway to not only the disputed South China Sea, but also Taiwan and the Western Pacific.
Chinese submarine at the entrance of Yulin Naval Base.
Planet Labs Inc.
China likes to keep some of its strategic possessions underground. For example, the “Underground Great Wall of China” is the name given to the network of tunnels that China is thought to use to store intercontinental ballistic missiles.
While the large, rugged underground tunnel system offers the potential for a second strike in the event of a nuclear war, Dean Cheng, an expert on Asian studies at the Heritage Foundation, told Insider that “it’s also a way to trick your opponent into getting there. make sure they have no idea how much of everything you have. “
In the case of Yulin Naval Base, submarines are most vulnerable at dock, so hiding in underground tunnels, as has been done in the past, offers some degree of protection against potential adversaries, such as U.S. Navy troops stationed in ‘ patrol the neighborhood.
But, Cheng explained, “one thing to keep in mind is that the Chinese see information as a source.”
“They work very hard to make sure all information is tightly controlled,” he said. “For their minds, it’s always in their strategic interest to advise you on where my boats are, how many boats I have, and for you to ask about.”
“Imagine you are playing football and suddenly the other side is putting 14 extra people out on the field,” he said. “Your whole playbook just went out the window.
“That’s how the Chinese view information more broadly,” Cheng said. “If I can hide things from you, if I suddenly reveal new possibilities, new numbers, then you’ll have to chuck your whole playbook where you were trained, where you got the resources you’re typically focused on. up, out of the window. “
Yulin Naval Base.
Planet Labs Inc.
The tunnels at Yulin also make it difficult for an opponent to observe Chinese military preparations and intentions, Carl Schuster, former director of operations at the Joint Intelligence Center of US Pacific Command, told CNN.
“You have no evidence of (submarine combat readiness, operational response times and availability,” he said. “Tunnels blind potential opponents to the submarine’s business status and patterns, denying them the ability to enter China’s military state to determine preparations, knowledge that is critical to assessing China’s intentions and plans. “
Yulin Naval Base has been operational for decades and houses close-range rapid-fire attack and ballistic missile submarines, among other capabilities.
The most recent assessment by China’s military strength defense department states that the “modernization of China’s submarine power remains a high priority for the PLAN.”
The Pentagon expects submarine power to continue to grow, and China regulators say Chinese subs are quieter and more frequent as the country modernizes its power, making it more of a threat to rivals.
