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China's Submarine Modernization Continues: 2 Submarines Seen Outside New Shipyard
Following on from my previous analysis for Naval News, multiple Type-039A/B Yuan Class submarines are being built at the Wuchang shipyard outside Wuhan. This can now be clearly evidenced using commercial satellite imagery.
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The Yuan Class is China's most modern in-service diesel-electric submarine. It is in some respects the "kiloization" of the preceding Song Class. But it differs significantly from either the song or KILO class boats by being equipped with Air Independent power (AIP).
It is unclear which variant of Yuan is visible in the satellite imagery. The Wuchang yard is likely involved in both domestic and export production. The Royal Thai Navy's first submarine is known to be under construction there, and the Pakistan Navy's are likely too. What can be said is that the two boats observed are not radically different externally (in overall terms) to the earlier Yuans.
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