China was close to completing its most advanced nuclear submarine. It was there because it sank on a dock, according to WSJ

China aspires to have armed forces that can directly rival those of the United States to end of 2040. With this objective in mind, it is promoting initiatives such as the Chengdu J-20 fifth-generation fighter or the largest amphibious assault ship in the world, known as Type 076. Despite this, not everything is turning out as anticipated. The Asian giant could have suffered a major setback this year.

The Wall Street Journal, based on anonymous US government sources, points out that The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has lost its most modern and advanced nuclear-powered submarine. The Zhou-class ship, they explain, had been launched in a shipyard located near Wuhan. Work seemed to continue at a good pace, but the submarine ended up sinking sometime in the spring.

Goodbye to the new Zhou-class submarine

The submarine was intended to become the first of the Zhou class whose main features are nuclear propulsion and a new stern design that promises to offer greater maneuverability. This is a project whose information is very scarce. So much so that China has not publicly commented on the episode, so members of the Pentagon consulted by the newspaper believe that they are trying to hide it.

Like everything related to the military world, you have to take information with a grain of salt. At the moment we only have the data that comes from North America. The first to discover something unusual in the Chinese shipbuilding zone It was Thomas Shugart.. According to satellite images collected by the specialist, several cranes appeared around where a submarine was being built, apparently in an attempt to rescue him.

One of the active submarines of the PLA Navy

At that time, however, it was not clear which vehicle it was. Later, American sources spoke of the sinking of the modern Chinese submarine. In this sense, the Department of Defense is not clear if the ship was loaded with nuclear fuel at the time of the incident, but they also have no evidence that Chinese authorities had set up a plan to take water samples for radiation in the area.

The loss of a nuclear submarine that was about to enter service could be a hard blow for Beijing, which is in the process of retiring some of its oldest units. the United States Congressional Research Service estimates that The Asian country will have 65 submarines in 2025 and 80 in 2035. Currently, it also has the largest Navy in the world by number of ships, with 234 warships.

Images | Maxar Technologies | SinoDefence

In Xataka | Submarines are the key to US naval dominance. Now China knows how to detect them: with bubbles