Modernizing the PLAN’s submarine force remains a high priority for the PRC. The
PLAN currently operates four nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) with two
additional hulls fitting out, six nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs), and 50 diesel-powered
attack submarines (SSs). The PLAN will likely maintain between 65 and 70 submarines through the
2020s, replacing older units with more capable units on a near one-to-one basis.
China continues to increase its inventory of conventional submarines capable of firing advanced anti-
ship cruise missiles (ASCMs). Since the mid-1990s, the PLAN has purchased 12 Russian-built Kilo
class SS units, eight of which are capable of launching ASCMs. During these years, China’s shipyards
have delivered 13 Song class SS units (Type 039) and 17 Yuan class diesel-electric air-independent-
powered attack submarine (SSP) (Type 039A/B). The PRC is expected to produce a total of 25 or
more Yuan class submarines by 2025.
Over the past 15 years, the PLAN has constructed twelve nuclear submarines – two Shang I class
SSNs (Type 093), four Shang II class SSNs (Type 093A), and six Jin class SSBNs (Type 094), two of
which were awaiting entry into service in late 2019. Equipped with the CSS-N-14 (JL-2) submarine-
launched ballistic missile (SLBM), the PLAN’s four operational Jin class SSBNs represent the PRC’s
first credible sea-based nuclear deterrent. Each Jin class SSBN can carry up to 12 JL-2 SLBMs. In
2019, these missiles were displayed at the PRC’s 70th anniversary parade revealing at least a full
complement of 12 JL-2s are complete and operational. China’s next-generation Type 096 SSBN,which
will likely begin construction in the early-2020s, will reportedly carry a new type of SLBM. The PLAN
is expected to operate the Type 094 and Type 096 SSBNs concurrently and could have up to eight
SSBNs by 2030. This would align with Chairman Xi Jinping’s 2018 directive for the SSBN force to
achieve “stronger growth.”
By the mid-2020s, China will likely build the Type 093B guided-missile nuclear attack submarine. This
new Shang class variant will enhance the PLAN’s anti-surface warfare capability and could provide a
clandestine land-attack option if equipped with land-attack cruise missiles (LACMs). The PLAN is
also improving its anti-submarine warfare capabilities through the development of its surface
combatants and special mission aircraft, but it continues to lack a robust deep-water anti-
submarine warfare (ASW) capability.