WUHAN, China, July 16 (UPI) -- China's deployment of a new class of submarine has caught U.S. military officials off guard, the Washington Times reported Friday.
Known in the Pentagon as the first Yuan-class submarine, it was spotted a few weeks ago in an inland shipyard and appears to be under construction.
This week a photograph of the completed submarine in the water at China's Wuhan shipyard was posted on a Chinese Internet site and confirmed by a defense official as the new submarine.
U.S. officials apparently had not known that China was building a new diesel-powered submarine.
The discovery underscores Beijing's buildup of forces to dominate the Taiwan Straits and impose its will on Taipei, analysts said.
China currently has a force of 57 deployed submarines, including one Xia-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine, five Han submarines, four Kilos, seven Songs, 18 Mings and 22 Soviet-designed Romeos, said Sid Trevethan, an Alaska-based specialist on the Chinese military. Beijing also has eight more Kilos on order with Russia.
