Type 093 Shang

China's second-generation nuclear attack submarine (SSN/SSGN), spanning the baseline Type 093, improved Type 093A, and the VLS-equipped Type 093B, and the backbone of the People's Liberation Army Navy's undersea fleet.

Overview

The Type 093 Shang class is the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) only operational nuclear-powered attack submarine. Built by Bohai Shipyard at Huludao, the series entered service in 2006 and has evolved through three principal variants. The latest iteration, the Type 093B, is classified by the United States as a cruise-missile submarine (SSGN) because of its vertical-launch system, giving the PLAN a massed land-attack and anti-ship strike capability from a stealthy submerged platform. Alongside the noisy Type 094 ballistic-missile boat, the Shang family is the keel of China’s nuclear submarine fleet, though open-source assessments consistently place it a half-generation or more behind contemporary Western and Russian SSNs in acoustic signature.

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