China underwater submarine tunnel.

[falcon]

Commercial photos show Chinese nuke buildup


Xia missile submarinee at Jianggzhuang Submarine Base, with underground sub facility.

By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
February 16, 2006

Commercial satellite photos made public recently provide a new look at China's nuclear forces and bases -- images that include the first view of a secret underwater submarine tunnel.

A Pentagon official said the photograph of the tunnel entrance reveals for the first time a key element of China's hidden military buildup. Similar but more detailed intelligence photos of the entrance are highly classified within the U.S. government, the official said.

"The Chinese have a whole network of secret facilities that the U.S. government understands but cannot make public," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "This is the first public revelation of China's secret buildup."

The photographs, taken from 2000 to 2004, show China's Xia-class ballistic missile submarine docked at the Jianggezhuang base, located on the Yellow Sea in Shandong province.

Nuclear warheads for the submarine's 12 JL-1 missiles are thought to be stored inside an underwater tunnel that was photographed about 450 meters to the northwest of the submarine. The high-resolution satellite photo shows a waterway leading to a ground-covered facility.

Other photographs show additional underground military facilities, including the Feidong air base in Anhui province with a runway built into a nearby hill.
The photographs were obtained by the nonprofit groups Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Federation of American Scientists. The photos first appeared Friday in the winter edition of the quarterly newsletter Imaging Notes.

The photographs are sharp enough to identify objects on the ground about 3 feet in size. Such digital images were once the exclusive domain of U.S. technical intelligence agencies, but in recent years, commercial companies have deployed equally capable space-based cameras.

Disclosure of the underground bases supports analyses of Pentagon and intelligence officials who say China is engaged in a secret military buildup that threatens U.S. interests, while stating publicly that its forces pose no threat.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said during a trip to China in October that Beijing was sending "mixed signals" by building up forces in secret and without explaining their purpose.

Adm. Gary Roughead, commander of the Navy's Pacific Fleet, said he did not consider China "a threat." But he also said in a speech Tuesday that China's purpose behind its rapid military buildup is not fully known. "That's a little unclear," he said, noting that "increased transparency" is needed from China.

The photographs included several shots of Chinese H-6 strategic bombers and related aerial refueling tankers at Dangyang airfield in Hubei province. Also, 70 nuclear-capable Qian-5 aircraft were photographed parked at an airfield in Jianqiao, Zhejiang province, on the East China Sea coast.

The Pentagon's four-year strategy report made public earlier this month stated that China is emerging as a power with "the greatest potential to compete militarily with the United States." The report stated that Beijing is investing heavily in "strategic [nuclear] arsenal and capabilities to project power beyond its borders."

The report did not provide specifics. U.S. officials said, however, that the secrecy of the Chinese buildup has fueled a debate within the U.S. government over the threat posed by that country.

U.S. intelligence agencies recently produced a National Intelligence Estimate, or major interagency analysis, that concluded China is using strategic deception to fool the United States and other nations about its goals and programs, including its military buildup.

Pentagon officials have asked China to allow visits to underground facilities such as the submarine tunnel and a command center in Beijing, but either the requests were denied or the existence of the sites was denied.

"The Chinese have denied having any underground submarine facilities," the Pentagon official said, noting that the satellite photos indicate that China has misled the United States.

Underground submarine sites are one of 10 major types of facilities hidden by the Chinese military, U.S. officials said. The others include nuclear missile storage facilities, other weapons plants, command centers and political leadership offices.

In 2004, China revealed the first of a new class of submarines. The development of the Yuan-class submarines was kept secret through the use of an underground factory in south-central China, the officials said.

Since 2002, Beijing has deployed 14 submarines. And it is working on a new ballistic-missile submarine, known as the Jin class, and two new Shang-class attack submarines.

According to a classified Defense Intelligence Agency assessment, China's nuclear forces include about 45 long-range missiles, 12 submarine-launched missiles and about 100 short-range missiles -- each with a single warhead.

By 2020, China's arsenal will include up to 220 long-range missiles, up to 44 submarine-launched missiles and up to 200 short-range missiles, the DIA report stated.

Richard Fisher, a China military analyst at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, said that in addition to the northern submarine base, China also has a major submarine base at Yulin, on Hainan island in the South China Sea.

The southern base gives Chinese missile submarines easier access to firing areas than the Yellow Sea base, which is more vulnerable to attacks from U.S. anti-submarine warfare systems.

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20...367r_page2.htm

[vector7]

Nuclear Brief February 16, 2006
China's Nuclear Missile Submarine Base



The base for China's single Xia-class ballistic missile submarine is located at Jianggezhuang approximately 15 miles (24 km) east of Qingdao on the Yellow Sea (see map). The base spans an entire bay 1.2 miles (1.9 km) across, and includes six piers, a dry dock, numerous service facilities, and an underground submarine tunnel. The main facilities appear to be located in the eastern part of the bay. Apart from the Xia, the base is also used by Han-Class nuclear attack submarines.

Nuclear Submarine Base at Jianggezhuang

The base for China's single Xia-Class ballistic missile submarine is at Jianggezhuang near Qingdao. In this satellite image taken by the Quickbird satellite on April 19, 2004, the Xia SSBN and a Han-Class attack submarine are moored near the entrance to an underground submarine facility that presumably stores the Julang-1 ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads for the Xia. Source: DigitalGlobe/"China's Nuclear Forces," Imaging Notes, Winter 2006, p. 25.

The most intriguing feature of the base is the underground submarine facility located in the southeastern end of the bay. The facility consists of a large submarine entrance from the harbor, a pier side entrance to the south, and a land entrance to the east (see image). The submarine entrance is approximately 43 feet (13 meters) wide and appears to be arched by a large concrete structure. Both of the land-entrances are approximate 33 feet (10 meters) wide and appear to have what may be a railway system connected to the interior of the facility.

The size of the underground submarine facility at the Jianggezhuang Submarine Base is not known, but the entrances give some idea of the possible outline. In addition to a large submarine pool, the facility probably houses storage facilities for ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads for the Xia-class submarine. Source: DigitalGlobe/ImagingNotes.com

The size and layout of the underground facility are unknown, but the entrances give some idea of what could be hiding under the rocks. The submarine entrance likely extends at least a full Xia-class submarine length plus a little extra into the rock, and the angle of the two entrances provide a hypothetical outline of the facility (see image above). In addition to the submarine pool itself, the facility might house storage facilities for the Julang-1 sea-launched ballistic missiles, storage facilities for the nuclear warheads, and various personnel facilities.

Moreover, rail tracks appear to connect to outside buildings.

Pier Side SLBM Loading

A Julang-1 SLBM is loaded into one of the Xia's 12 launch tubes.

Although the underground facility is a possible storage and service site for the Xia's nuclear Julang-1 medium-range ballistic missiles, the submarine apparently can also onload the missiles at pier side. Several images available on the Internet show the loading of Julang-1 missiles into the Xia using a large crain (see right image).

The Xia submarine is equipped with 12 vertical launch tubes for the Julang-1 medium-range ballistic missile. The 150 feet (47 meters) elevated hull behind the sail that houses the missiles is clearly visible in the satellite image, which also shows a 90 feet (30 meters) boat moored alongside the Xia (see left image). The 12 hatches appear to span 80 feet (25 meters) of the elevated hull.

Xia SSBN At Jianggezhuang

The nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine Xia photographed at pier side on April 19, 2004. Source: DigitalGlobe/"China's Nuclear Forces," Imaging Notes, Winter 2006, p. 25.

The Xia submarine was launched in April 1981 and first test fired a Julang-1 in October 1985. The Xia has never been fully operational and has never conducted a deterrent patrol. From pier side at Jianggezhuang, the submarine's 1,700 km range Julang-1 SLBMs are in range of Okinawa but just short of Tokyo. Whether the submarine has the capability to launch from pier side is unknown.

Jianggezhuang will likely also become the homeport for China's Type 094-Class second-generation ballistic missiles submarine. The first unit is under construction at the Huludao Shipyard approximately 315 miles north of the base and may become operational toward the end of the decade. The Type 094 will carry the Julang-2, a modified version of the land-based DF-31 with a range of up to 8,000 kilometers. If the Type 094 design is successful, China will probably build a few more in an attempt to establish a modest sea-based leg to its nuclear posture.

While U.S. intelligence sources have been almost mute about the submarine cave, the most extensive description about its construction, as pointed out by Jeff Lewis, was printed in John Wilson Lewis and Xue Litai's China's Strategic Seapower (Stanford University Press, 1994, p. 123):

"In February 1966, Mao, ever concerned to protect the country’s defenses from air raids, urged the navy to 'build more shelters' for its ships in man-made caves. 'In building [such] shelters you do not have to adopt underwater operations,' he wrote.

'You can begin by digging a vertical shaft just like the miners do. Then dig through the rock horizontally to let seawater in. After that, add a hardened cover over the shaft.' At this, the navy embarked on a search for a place where the nation might 'shelter its submarines.'
About two years later, Mao approved the navy’s choice of an inlet near Qingdao. And ordered the building to commence.

The navy immediately transferred several engineering regiments to work on the project’s first phase, and they proceeded to remove 810,000 cubic meters of rock and to pour 200,000 cubic meters of concrete. The gigantic sea cave completed, construction crews then installed 17,000 pieces of equipment and laid 220 km of pipeline, much of it related to maintaining nuclear power plants. By the mid-1970s, the concealed base was camouflaged and hardened against attack and made ready to receive the first nuclear boat, nuclear boat No. 401. In 1975, the navy authorized the North China Sea Fleet to form the Nuclear Submarine Flotilla.

The base comprises multiple shelters, each of which has a number of facilities to load and unload nuclear fuel roads, move supplies, monitor the performance of various subsystems, repair breakdowns, and conduct demagnetization. The cavernous shelter where the boats are docked is as high as a 12-story building. Large-sized cranes in this shelter can load or off-load the JL-1 missiles.

Partially protected against nuclear or chemical attack as well as conventional air raids, the shelters can maintain communication and independent operations under combat conditions. The base commander can conduct effective command and control of his submarines for extended periods even when cut off from all outside support."

[American Patriot]

What? You mean Google Earth guys didn't get a street view? What a rip off.

[Toad]

I think it's possibly related to this thread?

http://www.transasianaxis.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4664

Which a year or so ago DID have google pictures showing the sub cave, but it's all been removed.

[American Patriot]

I remembered the pictures. I'm just being funny about the fact that Google Earth people have captured all kinds of weird things on the "Street View" but I bet you money they dont have people driving the streets of China, Russia and a few other places.