According to the official video account of the “North Sea Fleet,” a submarine detachment of the Northern Theater Navy organized submarines to go to unfamiliar waters and conduct practical exercises in submarine attack and defense.
As is well known, the more complex the weather conditions, the better the training opportunity. With the cold wave sweeping across various parts of China, the detachment’s decision to organize submarines for practical training in unfamiliar waters in such conditions is quite rare!
It is reported that this training will comprehensively and from multiple angles hone the emergency response capabilities of officers and soldiers, effectively enhancing the unit’s combat readiness. From the video footage, it is evident that the submarine detachment belongs to the conventional power submarine force and is equipped with the domestically produced Type 039B submarine.
Speaking of the Type 039 conventional power submarine, this series of submarines represents a critical step from learning and catching up to achieving world-class status for domestically produced conventional power submarines.
It is worth mentioning that, compared to the previous Type 033, which was imitated, and the slightly modified Type 035 series, each generation of Type 039 submarines undergoes significant changes, with even the appearance undergoing major transformations. The latest improved models even feature a “mushroom head” casing.
The Type 039B submarine, equipped by this submarine detachment, is one of the newer models in the series. The Type 039B submarine’s hull is equipped with side-mounted sonar arrays and a torpedo decoy launcher at the stern. The former addresses the issue of insufficient underwater perception capabilities on both sides of the original Type 039 submarines, while the latter further enhances the submarine’s survivability.
The Hong Kong “Ta Kung Pao” has previously pointed out that the Type 039B submarine’s entire body is covered with sound-absorbing tiles, with a larger area than the sound-absorbing tiles of Japan’s “Soryu” class submarines, and it has a more effective sound reduction effect.
It is widely believed that the Type 039B submarine adopts a new power generation system, capable of low-speed underwater navigation while charging the main battery. Therefore, this type of submarine has higher tactical flexibility than general AIP-powered submarines.
However, even with the cutting-edge “mushroom head” Type 039, it still uses a cross-shaped rudder, leaving room for improvement. It is generally believed that the rudder efficiency of the X-shaped rudder is higher, as there is no need to consider damaging the rudder when the submarine sits on the seabed, allowing for the design of longer rudder boards.
