Saturday 3rd March 2007


WASHINGTON: China is conducting sea trials of the first of five new nuclear-powered submarines armed with longer-range ballistic missiles.

The sea trials are part of a broader push by China to check US naval power in the western Pacific with a more modern fleet of nuclear-powered ballistic missile and attack submarines, the US Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) said.

The first of the new nuclear ballistic missile submarines, designated the Type 094 SSBN, could begin operating as early as 2008, it said.

The submarine "will provide China with a modern and robust sea-based nuclear deterrent force," the ONI reported.

Jag