New submarine hints at China’s search for stealth ahead of potential Taiwan war: analysts

French and American submarine watchers note features of a new Type 039A Chinese sub would make it quieter and more agile

‘To some extent, the revision and design told us that Taiwan is the top target of the Type 039 subs,’ says Macau-based expert

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There is much speculation about the Type 039D Chinese Submarine that appeared on social media on May 12 and what the latest modifications might mean for its battle capacity. Photo: Twitter

Published: 12:00pm, 8 Aug 2021Updated: 9:49pm, 8 Aug 2021

China’s move to create quieter submarines by reconfiguring its Type 039A diesel-powered submarines would aid the Chinese navy in a possible war for Taiwan reunification and territory conflicts in the East and South China seas, according to military analysts.

The PLA Navy now owns one more advanced new variant of the Type 039A submarine featuring an unusual sail, which appears to increase its agility and stealth, according to a recent collaborative study by Eric Genevelle, a French submarine encyclopaedia author, and Richard W. Stirn, a former sonar technician submariner working for the United States Navy.

Observers say the sail of 039D Chinese submarine departs from other versions of the Type 039. Photo: Twitter

The Type 039A is China’s first conventional submarine equipped with air-independent propulsion (AIP). It was designed mainly as an anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) platform capable of hiding submerged for longer in difficult-to-access shallow coastal areas.

The new variation, which the authors called Type 039D, features a distinctively stealthy sail – an angled upper section with a ridge running along it – and was first pictured and posted on Chinese social media platforms on May 12, days before its launch in a shipyard in Wuhan, Hubei province, according to the analysis article published on the authors’ personal websites.

“The shape of the sail seems to have been studied to allow better reflection of radar waves on the surface,” Genevelle wrote, adding that the coating of the anechoic – or free from echo – tiles on the sail looked different and outlines were much less visible.

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