China is developing a new generation of submarines armed with longer-range ballistic missiles capable of striking more of the U.S. mainland from waters closer to its own shores, senior U.S. naval commanders told lawmakers Monday.
The advances, outlined in testimony before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, signal what American officials described as an intensifying undersea arms race between the world's two largest military powers, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
Beijing's expanding undersea capabilities "represent a serious challenge," Vice Adm. Richard Seif, commander of U.S. Navy submarine forces, said in a statement submitted for the hearing. He cited the production of next-generation submarines featuring "advanced technologies that challenge the U.S. Navy's longstanding undersea dominance."
In separate testimony, Rear Adm. Mike Brookes, director of the Navy's intelligence office, said China's "undersea forces may credibly challenge U.S. regional maritime dominance" by 2040.
China has "dramatically increased its domestic submarine production capacity, accelerating production from less than one nuclear submarine a year to significantly higher rates," Brookes said.
With expanded shipbuilding infrastructure, "China will likely field a more survivable and numerous ballistic missile submarine force," he said, adding that the fleet will be able to operate closer to Chinese territory while still "holding the U.S. homeland at risk."
At the center of the buildup is the Type 096 ballistic missile submarine, which Brookes said is expected to carry missiles capable of targeting "large portions of the U.S. from protected waters, fundamentally enhancing strategic deterrence credibility."
He was referring to waters near China that are more easily defended by Beijing's military.
That would mark an advance over China's current ballistic missile submarines, which "can target portions of the U.S. from within the first island chain," a string of archipelagoes stretching from Japan to Taiwan and the Philippines.
The Pentagon projects that China's submarine force will grow to 80 vessels by 2035, roughly half of them nuclear-powered. China is currently estimated to operate more than 60 submarines, most of them diesel-powered boats with more limited range and endurance.
U.S. officials said China's broader naval modernization campaign is aimed at narrowing the United States' advantage in undersea warfare, an area long considered a cornerstone of U.S. maritime dominance.
Rapid improvements are making China's submarines quieter and faster, with more advanced weapons and sensors, and the ability to remain submerged for longer periods.
The expanded fleet is part of Chinese leader Xi Jinping's push to modernize the armed forces and build a world-class navy capable of operating far beyond China's coastal waters.
Beijing already has the world's largest navy by number of ships, though analysts say it has not yet matched the U.S. in sustained global power projection.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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