Type 096 Tang-Class Submarine

Type 096 Tang-Class Submarine Latest News

China has unveiled the most significant upgrade to its undersea nuclear capability with the unveiling of the Type 096 Tang-Class ballistic missile submarine recently.

About Type 096 Tang-Class Submarine

• The Type 096 (NATO reporting name of Tang-class) submarine is China’s next-generation nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN).
• It is bigger, stealthier, and armed with longer-range missiles than its predecessors.

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Type 096 Tang-Class Submarine Features

• It will displace around 20,000 tons when submerged, placing it in the same weight class as the U.S. Navy’s Ohio-class submarines.
• It is said to have raft-mounted machinery, hull isolation systems, and a propulsion design that minimizes acoustic signatures during patrols.
• These features are aimed at making the sub harder to detect in contested waters.
• The vessel’s pressurized water-cooled nuclear reactor powers a single shaft via a steam turbine arrangement.
• Modern power plant elements and improved vibration dampening technologies are said to enhance submerged speed and stealth performance.
• The submarine is expected to carry between 16 and 24 JL-3 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), each capable of ranges exceeding 10,000 to 12,000 kilometers and equipped with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs).
• It can also launch wire-guided, high-speed Yu-6 torpedoes with a range of over 29 km.

Source: WION