Chinese underwater nukes test Pentagon

China is making significant advances towards a more reliable second-strike nuclear capability, bolstering its deterrence against an attack on its landbased nuclear weapons, Reuters revealed on Thursday.

Until recently, China lacked a powerful second-strike option. But now its ballistic missile submarines, which can deliver weapons capable of striking the US, are changing that.

Evidence of China’s progress can be found in satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters. These show the presence of nuclearpowered ballistic missile submarines at a strategic base in southern China. They also reveal facilities at the base that appear to have been built for the storage and loading of ballistic missiles.

Off China’s shores, warships and aircraft designed to protect submarines can now be spotted conducting regular patrols. And the man now commanding Chinese forces in the south is a veteran submariner.

Together, this points to China having a fleet of nuclear-armed submarines that appear to be heading out on regular patrols, serving and retired naval officers, diplomats and security analysts told Reuters. That signals a significant boost to Beijing’s nuclear deterrence and marks a breakthrough in China’s drive to rival the US and Russia as a nuclear arms power.

The special report is part of “The China Challenge”, a Reuters series on how President Xi Jinping’s ambitious revamping of China’s military is challenging US dominance in Asia.

For six decades it has been China’s ambition to build a fleet of nuclear-armed submarines. It is still unclear if these are able to conduct permanent patrols, which would require at least one of these submarines to always be at sea to ensure round-the-clock deterrence.

Nevertheless, Western military officials say the US and its allies are behaving as if China does have this capability and are now trying to track these submarines in a cat-and-mouse contest under the waves reminiscent of the Cold War. As one Western military attaché said: “We’re looking at them looking for us.”.