China Has A Plan To Track And Destroy U.S. Submarines

Chinese Navy submarines and warships take part in an international fleet review to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army Navy in Qingdao, Shandong province, April 23, 2009. Guang Niu/Pool/Reuters

Lyle J. Goldstein, National Interest: China's 'Undersea Great Wall'

Beijing will build its next line of defense on the ocean floor.

As defense analysts brood over the evolving military balance in the western Pacific, considerations related to undersea warfare keep coming to the fore. Given the lethality of modern antiship cruise missiles, surface combatants of all types may well be scarce on the future naval battlefield. Moreover, precision strikes on airbases (and the inherent vulnerability of aircraft carriers) suggest that aerial platforms could additionally be rather sparse during the first few critical weeks of any military conflict that breaks out in the Asia-Pacific region. That leaves submarines (assisted by undersea robots) to decide the epic battle.

Western strategists have been reasonably comfortable with this conclusion, safe in the knowledge that Washington possesses a very considerable undersea advantage over Beijing. That advantage includes acoustic superiority, larger and more capable boats, and a wealth of experience both in operating submarines and in developing undersea warfare-technology innovations.

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Update: China proposes 'Underwater Great Wall' that could erode US, Russian submarine advantages (IHS Jane's 360)

WNU Editor: I guess this explains why the U.S. Navy is concerned when cases like this one show up .... Navy officer accused of spying faces court-martial (Navy Times).