Indo-Pacific — 2026-06-04

Satellite Imagery Reveals New Chinese Sailless Submarine at 120 Meters, Largest of Its Kind

BLUFParallel submarine construction at two shipyards, one with no prior nuclear record, indicates China is building industrial capacity to accelerate its undersea fleet expansion beyond Western planning assumptions.

Satellite imagery from Vantor, obtained by The War Zone, showed a new sailless submarine moored at Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai on June 1, with Naval News first reporting its appearance there from late May 12. Undersea warfare analyst H.I. Sutton, writing for Naval News, assessed the vessel at approximately 120 meters long and 10-11 meters wide, with X-form rudders and a possible shrouded propulsor 12. Propulsion is unconfirmed; Naval News assessed nuclear power as most likely given the vessel's size, with China's nuclear-AIP concept as an alternative possibility 23. Around the same time, a separate submarine appeared at Bohai Shipyard, China's dedicated nuclear submarine facility, with both outlets reporting class affiliation for the two boats unresolved 12.

Analysis
Simultaneous appearance of submarines at JN Shipyard, which carries no prior nuclear construction record, and at Bohai, China's dedicated nuclear submarine facility, points to PLAN scaling parallel production lines. The sailless hull, X-form rudders, and a possibly shrouded propulsor prioritize acoustic reduction and submerged speed beyond current PLAN standards. Propulsion is unconfirmed, with nuclear power assessed as most likely at this scale. Both class affiliations are unresolved; whether either is the anticipated Type-095 or a distinct program will determine how Western navies revise attack submarine order-of-battle estimates. All structural assessments rest on commercial satellite imagery without SIGINT or official confirmation, and the JN vessel may be a technology demonstrator rather than a lead production unit, making the parallel-production inference premature.

3 sources

New Large Chinese Submarine With Very Unique Feature Just Caught On Satellite Imagery - The War Zone
New Mystery Submarine Signals China's Rapid Undersea Expansion - Naval News
Satellite images expose China's massive new 120-meter sail-free mystery submarine - Interesting Engineering