China’s 09V sub signals shift in Pacific’s undersea power
Satellite imagery of a new Chinese nuclear attack submarine should be ringing alarm bells in Washington
By
GABRIEL HONRADA
FEBRUARY 17, 2026
China’s first Type 09V nuclear attack submarine (SSN) surfacing at Bohai isn’t just a new hull in the water—it may be its boldest bid yet to break out of the First Island Chain and rewrite the undersea balance in the Western Pacific.
This month, Naval News
reported that China has moved the first of its next-generation Type 09V (or Type 095) SSN into a launch bay at the Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry yard in Huludao, satellite and radar imagery show, marking a significant milestone in the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) undersea modernization program.
The vessel, first spotted in a flooded drydock, distinguishes itself from existing Type 093/ Shang-class submarines through a noticeably wider beam of about 12–13 meters and an estimated submerged displacement of 9,000–10,000 tons — well above the roughly 7,000 tons of earlier SSNs — and features prominent X-form stern control surfaces not previously seen on Chinese nuclear subs.
The design may incorporate a pump-jet propulsion system and may include a vertical launch system (VLS) for cruise missiles. However, key aspects such as sonar, torpedo fit, and hull form remain unconfirmed. PLAN’s expanded nuclear submarine production at Bohai, which has launched multiple upgraded Type 093B boats since 2022, underlines China’s push for a more capable fleet.
The Type 09V’s emergence is likely to influence Indo-Pacific naval planning, adding pressure on regional powers like Australia, Japan and South Korea to bolster anti-submarine and, in some cases, nuclear submarine capabilities.
The Type 09V may be the latest in a long evolution in Chinese SSN design. Christopher Carlson and Howard Wang outline this evolution in an August 2023 China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI)
report.
The writers trace developments from the noisy, first-generation Type 091 Han—incrementally improved with new sonar, anechoic coatings, and propellers—to the Type 093 Shang series, which introduced better hydrodynamics, towed arrays, and Russian-derived noise-reduction techniques.
Carlson and Wang then highlight a shift toward third-generation designs emphasizing quieter reactors with partial natural circulation and hybrid or electric propulsion concepts to reduce acoustic signatures.
Their discussion of higher-power, quieter reactor options and advanced propulsion architectures shows the technical foundation for a larger, stealthier, more capable successor class—laying the engineering and design logic for the emergence of the Type 09V as a true next-generation Chinese SSN.
Technical progress, however, matters less in isolation than how China intends to employ these boats. Edward Feltham mentions in an October 2023
article for the Naval Association of Canada that SSNs can perform similar roles as conventional attack submarines (SSKs), such as attacking ships and submarines with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles, executing covert special operations forces (SOF), and collecting visual and electromagnetic intelligence.
However, Feltham emphasizes that the primary advantage of SSNs lies in their nuclear propulsion, which enables higher transit speeds and eliminates the need to return to periscope depth for main battery recharging. He also notes that Chinese literature on SSNs often emphasizes their key benefit: the capacity for long-range missions.
That outward push is increasingly tied to how China is using its surface fleet. In line with that, J. Michael Dahm and Allison Zhao mention in a June 2023 CMSI
report that the PLAN has already deployed Shang-class SSNs and Song-class submarines into the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean, creating new command and control (C2) challenges but demonstrating growing confidence in long-range undersea operations.
Dahm and Zhao link this to China’s pursuit of more secure, reliable submarine communications and joint command structures, which would allow SSNs to penetrate chokepoints, evade adversary anti-submarine warfare assets, and operate persistently beyond the First Island Chain as part of a broader power-projection and deterrence posture.
In terms of power projection beyond the First Island Chain, China’s SSNs are likely to serve as part of a larger carrier strike group protecting the formation against undersea threats.
Such roles may become increasingly important as China operates its carriers beyond the First Island Chain. In a China Power
article this month, Bonny Lin and other writers detail a sharp expansion in China’s carrier operations into the Western Pacific beyond the First Island Chain in 2025, signaling a transition from episodic deployments to more routine “far seas” operations.
Lin and others note that the Liaoning sailed beyond the Second Island Chain for the first time. At the same time, they emphasized that Liaoning and Shandong operated simultaneously outside the First Island Chain, a PLAN first.
They also point out that China’s carrier strike groups spent nearly twice as many days beyond the chain as in 2024, flew more sorties, and conducted longer deployments with escorts, reflecting maturing carrier air wing integration, sustainment, and blue-water command-and-control—steps toward normalizing sustained power projection.
While the Type 09V likely marks a qualitative improvement, it is far from clear that it resolves China’s deepest problem at sea: survivability.
Ryan Martinson, in a June 2025 Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC)
article, cites PLAN officers expressing concern in the November 2023 issue of Military Art, a prestigious journal published by the Chinese Academy of Military Science, that China’s submarines cannot reliably achieve stealth or survivability against the US undersea surveillance system.
The officers say that Chinese submarines face a “very high” probability of detection when leaving port and a “fairly high” chance of being tracked and intercepted even in the near seas, undermining their strategic and operational utility.
These officers warn that US satellites, seabed sensors, ships, aircraft, and unmanned systems create near “unilateral transparency,” threatening transit safety and even the survivability of China’s nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), forcing the PLAN to prioritize counter-surveillance and survivability measures.
In line with those caveats, Edward Black and Sidharth Kaushal mention in an October 2025
article for the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) that China’s SSNs still face intertwined technical and geographic constraints despite visible progress.
Black and Kaushal stress that while iterative fixes, including airbag isolation to dampen mechanical noise and vibration, plus redesigned sails to reduce hydrodynamic drag, and pump-jet propulsion could improve subsequent SSN classes, China remains a generation behind Western and Russian powerplants, and chokepoint geography—especially the Bashi Channel—still exposes SSNs during egress.
In sum, the Type 09V signals China’s ambition to close the qualitative gap in undersea warfare, but in a Western Pacific increasingly defined by pervasive sensors and shrinking margins for concealment, the real test will not be what the submarine can carry or how fast it can sail, but whether it can remain unseen long enough to matter.
China's first Type 09V nuclear attack submarine (SSN) surfacing at Bohai isn't just a new hull in the water—it may be its boldest bid yet to break out of
asiatimes.com
Brad Lendon
