China's newest ballistic missile nuclear submarine, the long-anticipated Jin-class vessel, has been spotted for the first time by a commercial satellite. The submarine was photographed in late 2006 south of the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian, said Hans Kristensen, director of the Federation of American Scientists said on July 5. It resembles China's early-1980s Xia-class submarines.
The 133-metre Jin-class submarine probably will carry Julang-2 sea-launched ballistic missiles in its estimated 12 launch tubes. It was spotted moored at Xiaopingdao Submarine Base, which it has used for testing in the past, he said.
The U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence estimated in December that China might build five Jin-class submarines, but that estimate was not included in the Pentagon's annual report on China's military power, published in May, Kristensen noted. (Source: Reuters, Jul 6, 2007).