A Closer Look at China's New SSBNs

Hans M. Kristensen at the Strategic Security Blog talks about the two new Jin-class SSBNs.

Labels: China, Jin-class SSBNs

China Reorganizes Northern Nuclear Missile Launch Sites

From the Strategic Security Blog,

China has significantly reorganized facilities believed to be launch sites for nuclear ballistic missiles near Delingha in the northern parts of Central China, according to commercial satellite images analyzed by the Federation of American Scientists.

The images indicate that older liquid-fueled missiles previously thought to have been deployed in the area may have been replaced with newer solid-fueled missiles. From the sites, the missiles are within range of three Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) fields and a bomber base in the southern parts of central Russia.

I'm currently reading Dr. Jeffery Lewis' , The Minimum Means of Reprisal so this post was very interesting. [via FAS]

Labels: China, ICBM, Nuclear Weapons

New Chinese Ballistic Missile Submarine Spotted

Hans M. Kristensen over at the Federation of American Scientists' Strategic Security Blog, talks about the new submarine that was photographed by the commercial Quickbird satellite in late 2006 and the image is freely available on the Google Earth web site.

A commercial satellite image appears to have captured China's new nuclear ballistic missile submarine. The new class, known as the Jin-class or Type 094, is expected to replace the unsuccessful Xia-class (Type 092) of a single boat built in the early 1980s. He goes through a very good analysis of the imagery. [via Strategic Security Blog]

Labels: China, satellite, submarine