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China’s military
ChinaMilitary

Chinese navy shows off growing fleet of advanced weaponry in new videos

  • PLA training videos show military hardware in defence manoeuvres
  • Subs, jets, aircraft carriers get the navy spotlight ahead of 20th party congress

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A Type 094A strategic nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine appeared in a PLA navy training video aired by state media, ahead of looming 20th party congress. Photo: Weibo
Minnie Chan

The Chinese navy has, for the first time, released video footage of its most advanced Type 094A nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine and Type 093 nuclear-powered attack submarine on Thursday.

The vessels appeared in a training video for China’s first combat-ready aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.

It’s the first time that state news broadcaster CCTV has aired video of the Type 094A, also known as the Long March-18, since the submarine was put into service on April 23 last year as part of celebrations to mark the 72nd anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army Navy.

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The Type 094A is capable of launching the JL-3 or Julang (Big Wave) ballistic missile, which has a range of more than 10,000km (6,200 miles) – enough to hit the US mainland.

The Type 094A is one of three advanced warships put into service the same day Chinese President Xi Jinping personally presided over a launch ceremony. The other two vessels were the Type 075 amphibious helicopter assault ship, and the Type 055 Renhai-class guided missile cruiser.
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