Nuclear-Armed UnderSea Submarine War: China’s Jin-Class vs US Navy Columbia-Class

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

JIn-class vs. Columbia class

While little is known about the exact technological make-up of the emerging Chinese Jin-class SSBN, it might not rival the emerging U.S. Columbia-class submarine. After all, the new, now-in-development Columbia class may be the quietest undersea boat ever to exist. It uses a quiet, efficient electric-drive and a differently configured X-shaped stern, among other technologies.

What is known about the Chinese Jin-class is that it will be armed with the extremely lethal, 5,600-mile range nuclear-armed ballistic JL-3 missiles, according to a May 2020 Congressional Research Service Report called “China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities.” Moreover, a 2018 CSIS report states the Chinese have already test-fired the weapon which, by any estimation, could easily hold the continental U.S. at great risk.

The Columbia class is to be equipped with an electric-drive propulsion train, as opposed to the mechanical-drive propulsion train used on other Navy submarines.In today’s Ohio-class submarines, a reactor plant generates heat which creates steam, Navy officials explained. The steam then turns the turbines that produce the sub’s electricity and also propels the ship forward. This propulsion is achieved through “reduction gears” which are able to translate the high-speed energy from a turbine into the shaft RPMs needed to move a boat propeller.“The electric-drive system is expected to be quieter (i.e., stealthier) than a mechanical-drive system,” a Congressional Research Service report on Columbia-Class submarines from last year states.

The submarines are designed to be 560-feet long and house sixteen Trident II D5 missiles fired from 44-foot-long missile tubes.

The “X”-shaped stern will restore maneuverability to submarines; as submarine designs progressed from using a propeller to using a propulsor to improve quieting, submarines lost some surface maneuverability, Navy officials explained.

Navy developers explain that electric-drive propulsion technology still relies on a nuclear reactor to generate heat and create steam to power turbines. However, the electricity produced is transferred to an electric motor rather than so-called reduction gears to spin the boat’s propellers.