Google Earth shows Chinese nuclear sub
A researcher for the Federation of American Scientists on Tuesday said he's spotted what appears to be China's new nuclear submarine using Google Earth's publicly available satellite imagery.
Google Earth shows what appears to be China's new nuclear submarine.
(Credit: Federation of American Scientists)The Quickbird satellite photographed the docked submarine at the Xiaopingdao Submarine Base in late 2006, said FAS's Hans Kristensen.
The new Jin-class or Type 094 submarines are expected to replace the Xia-class, Type 092 submarines built in the 1980s, Kristensen said. The new model appears to be 35 feet longer because of a longer missile compartment and possibly a larger nuclear reactor compartment, he said.
The image doesn't have enough detail to indicate whether the submarine will have 12 missile launch tubes, as the Xia-class models do and as the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence said in 2004 the Jia-class would also, or 16 tubes, as "nongovernmental sources frequently claim," Kristensen said.
(Via World Tribune)
Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank. 
- This is good for the world.
- by JCPayne July 5, 2007 3:25 PM PDT
- As Putin said the time has come to bring back some balance to the unipolar world. This should help.... YAY!
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