China Builds Top Secret Midget Submarine

Satellite imagery from October 2014 shows what appears to be a new midget submarine at China’s Wuchang shipyard. The space snapshots captured by DigitalGlobe show the vessel berthed at the shipyard pier used for fitting out submarines. The midget submarine had left the pontoon by late November and by mid-January 2015, another submarine, probably a Type 041 Yuan-class boat, occupied the pier.

China builds mystery midget submarine

 

China has apparently built a previously unseen midget submarine at its Wuchang shipyard in Wuhan.

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The imagery shows the craft berthed at the pontoon used for fitting out submarines. The midget submarine had left the pontoon by late November and by mid-January 2015, another submarine, probably a Type 041 Yuan-class boat, occupied the berth.

PLA developing submarines powered by lithium-ion batteries

China is experimenting with a lithium-ion battery propulsion system for submarines and aims to achieve results within the next five years, according to a report from Tokyo-based international news magazine the Diplomat.

Lithium-ion batteries offer much higher energy density and longer dive times than conventional diesel-powered submarines, which is why Chinese researchers see them as the “wave of the future,” says Andrew Erickson, a professor at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.