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At present, the military development direction of all countries in the world is developing in the direction of depth and three-dimensionalization, and nuclear submarines, as an important link in deep-sea operations and defensive warfare, have naturally become the focus of the key points.
So, what is the comparison between the three countries in the world in terms of military strength, the United States, Russia, and China, in terms of nuclear submarines?
From submarines to nuclear submarines
The history of the submarine dates back to 1776, although the "submarine" at that time was nothing more than a "stuffy jar" with two hollow wooden balls tied together with an iron hoop.
Although submarines at that time were not able to achieve deep diving, it did not make people give up on further exploration of submarines.
Because when the concept of the submarine was first proposed in the 16th century, the submarine and military value were already equated.
Submarines are capable of traveling below the surface of the water, with a high degree of concealment, as well as a high level of safety.
Also, because of this characteristic, the submarine is able to carry out transportation and surprise attacks while evading the enemy.
So in general, the role of the submarine is mainly presented as a "weapon".
The most famous submarine is probably the U-boat that terrified the warships and merchant ships of the Allied countries during World War I and World War II, and in World War II, the U48 set a record of sinking a total of 55 ships, including frigates.
However, submarines in World War II still exposed many problems, not only the simple way of attack, but also because of the technical limitations can not be underwater for a long time.
Therefore, it is often attacked by the enemy when it is exposed to the surface to replace the air and replenish the power with diesel generators, and even an ordinary aircraft can easily cause fatal danger.
It was precisely because people discovered this deficiency of submarines that they began to look for a solution.
In 1939, Gunn of the U.S. Navy put forward a proposal to apply nuclear energy technology to submarines, but at that time, the United States was fully developing the atomic bomb and temporarily shelved the development of nuclear submarines.
It was not until the end of World War II that nuclear submarines began to develop rapidly. So far, nuclear submarines have developed to be able to dive to more than 1,000 meters and continue to sail more than a million kilometers.
According to the different tasks performed and the different strike weapons they are equipped with, they are also divided into attack nuclear submarines, cruise missile nuclear submarines, and other nuclear submarines with different functions, which have also become an indispensable and important link in the current three-dimensional military system of air, space, and sea.
America's "Nautilus"
The world's earliest nuclear submarine concept was proposed by the US military, and the world's first nuclear submarine was officially born under the impetus of the US Navy.
From 1946 to 1956, after a 10-year "marathon" of scientific research, the US military finally succeeded in pushing the "Nautilus" nuclear submarine onto the world stage.
In a joint exercise with conventional submarines before they were officially commissioned in 1955, under the premise that conventional submarines were discovered by submarine hunters and aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines "opened their eyes" with their advantages of low noise, sufficient power, and deep depth.
At present, the United States has many generations of attack nuclear submarines and strategic nuclear submarines such as bonito, thresher shark, sturgeon, Los Angeles, Seawolf, Washington, Ohio, etc., and maintains a leading position in many technical fields.
The most advanced nuclear submarine in the United States is the fourth-generation strategic nuclear submarine, which has been developed since 1974 and is named the "Ohio-class."
With a combination of single and double hulls, the Ohio-class nuclear submarine has a hull length of 170 meters, can travel at speeds of 25 knots per hour below the surface, and can dive to a depth of nearly 300 meters.
However, in terms of diving depth, the Ohio class is not yet the "diving champion" of the US military.
The "Seawolf-class" nuclear submarine of the United States is a leader in the field of "silent noise reduction".
Although public data from the United States show that the noise decibel is between 90 and 100 decibels, relevant experts believe that the minimum noise of the "sea wolf level" can reach 85 to 90 decibels, which is a real "silent killer".
Because the hull is made of special steel, the "Seawolf class" has heavier "bones" than the "Ohio class", so it is also "far ahead" in terms of diving depth of 610 meters.
However, this does not mean that the "Seawolf class" is better than the "Ohio class", but it is only because the two are applied in different directions.
Marching "Hairy Bear"
To be precise, Russia's nuclear submarine industry is not the result of one country.
Because Russia has inherited part of the legacy of the former Soviet Union, among which there are not only "White Swan" Tu-160 strategic bombers, but also nuclear submarine technology hidden deep under the surface.
After the end of World War II, Stalin recognized the results of Nazi Germany's "wolf pack tactics" and formulated a policy of developing a "large ocean navy".
The main part of this was the planning of submarines, which the Soviets drew a great deal of technical inspiration from the captured submarines from the German side and the relevant design drawings.
Stalin believed that aircraft carriers, which were "symbolic products of imperialism" with "false vastness," were not suitable for the "Soviet state" of the Soviet Union, and that the cost of submarines was more affordable than the high price of aircraft carriers.
However, Marshal Zhukov, who had made great achievements in World War II, believed that "the navy will not play a big role in a future nuclear war," so the development of the Soviet navy had a long period of indulgence.
It was not until after the beginning of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union that the Soviet Union began to manufacture submarines in large quantities in order to deal with the American aircraft carriers that flaunted their might at home, but at that time the technology had lagged behind the United States for nearly three generations.
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the development of nuclear submarine technology was relatively mature, and four generations of nuclear submarines were developed successively.
The last generation of "Typhoon-class" nuclear submarines was the most high-tech and most powerful nuclear submarine at that time, and it also had the characteristics of the heavy Soviet "big hairy bear", with large volume and weight, and a huge underwater draft of 26,500 tons, which was also the largest nuclear submarine in the world so far.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia inherited some nuclear submarines from the Soviet Union, but it did not stop developing, so it continued to launch the Yasen-class nuclear submarine and the Boreas-class ballistic missile strategic nuclear submarine.
Compared with the US nuclear submarines, the Russian nuclear submarines inherited the technical characteristics of the Soviet Union's "big hairy bear", abandoned the "quiet" and "fine" and chose "large" and "deep", and also chose a "more rugged" development direction.
The deepest diving record of the Soviet Russian nuclear submarine is the 685 attack nuclear submarine, because the overall shell is made of titanium alloy, so it can withstand greater water pressure, setting a record of 1020 meters and 1250 meters of deep diving.
However, the "Meritorious-class" nuclear submarine sank in the sea in 1989 due to a fire.
However, compared with the US military, which often "flexes its muscles" everywhere, Russia's nuclear submarines do not appear often, even after two years of military conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The continent's gap
The development of the mainland's nuclear submarine industry can be said to be extremely bumpy, and when the United States and the Soviet Union successively possessed nuclear submarines, the mainland was still in the early stage of recovering its industrial capacity, and it also encountered natural disasters and special turbulent periods.
However, under that particularly difficult situation, the mainland still began to develop its own nuclear submarines under the hostile state of the United States and the Soviet Union and the blockade of science and technology.
In 1966, with the help of blurred photos and toy models in foreign media newspapers, scientific research experts on the mainland successfully developed the Type 091 nuclear submarine, which is what we often call the "Han-class" attack nuclear submarine, with the help of blurred photos and toy models in foreign media newspapers, from wooden molds to experiments in lake water.
Since 1974, when the mainland's first nuclear submarine was officially put into service with the port number "401", to now, the mainland has completed three generations of development and service, and is continuing to develop the fourth generation of new nuclear submarines, and is constantly approaching the United States and Russia in terms of technology and comprehensive capabilities.
Compared with the United States and Russia, the mainland has not pursued the ultimate in a single technology and lowered other indicators in terms of technical indicators, as they have done, but has developed toward a more balanced and balanced approach to actual combat, and has generally achieved the strategic goals of long endurance, strong penetration capability, and a wide variety of missiles and ballistic missiles it carries, with long capability, and strong power.
At present, among the nuclear submarines in service on the mainland, the Type 093B nuclear submarine is known for its accurate sonar detection and balanced combat system, and has become a sharp weapon for guarding the mainland's aircraft carriers.
The mainland's Type 095 nuclear-powered submarine is the most advanced nuclear submarine currently in service.
According to the relevant surveys of the United States and Japan, the 095 can be compared with the most advanced "Virginia-class" nuclear submarine in various indicators, and even surpasses the United States in terms of the "Changying" missiles equipped.
According to information disclosed by the United States, traces of SCP-095 have been found in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, and it is speculated that the depth of SCP-095 is at least between 450 meters and 520 meters, depending on the depth of the water in the area.
This news also caused a "mini-earthquake" in the US military, claiming that the mainland's nuclear submarines have been able to carry "nuclear threats" against the US mainland, including the "Julang 2" missile.
Although these news are just "speculation", they also prove from another aspect that the appearance of the mainland's Type 095 nuclear submarine has indeed attracted the attention of other countries, and the fundamental reason is the fear of the mainland's nuclear submarine from the heart.
epilogue
It is undeniable that there is still a certain distance between the mainland's nuclear submarine technology and the top technology of the United States and Russia, but on the whole there is no generation gap, and there is not too much data difference in terms of comprehensive combat strength, and the mainland's speed of scientific and technological development and practice is much faster than that of the United States and Russia.
According to relevant information, the mainland's 095-class nuclear submarine has accumulated a large amount of reliable data as a replacement for the 093-class nuclear submarine, paving the way for the next generation of Type 096 nuclear submarines.
It is believed that in the near future, the mainland's latest nuclear submarine will be able to become a national weapon to compete with the United States and Russia in terms of single data and overall performance.
Resources
[1] "China, the United States and Russia Submarine Force Strength Exposed, Chinese Navy Still Needs to Forge Ahead", Global Network
[2] "Comparison of the Convergence of Chinese and American Military News Reports: A Case Study of the Report on the Collision Accident of a U.S. Nuclear Submarine in the South China Sea", Journal of Chongqing Jiaotong University
[3] "The Battle for the Supremacy of the Nuclear Submarine of the United States and Russia", Science 24 hours
[4] "Comparison of Forces of U.S. and Russian Strategic Nuclear Submarines," Modern Ships Magazine