US Navy Hunts Chinese Submarines in Taiwan Strait with P-8 Poseidon

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

The US Navy’s famous P-8A Poseidon surveillance plane is now hunting Chinese submarines in the Taiwan strait in what appears to be an effort to identify or track the People’s Liberation Army – Navy’s undersea activity.

A Navy essay said the spy plane transited international airspace to “uphold the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” The surveillance, sub-hunting and attack aircraft is a non-stealthy larger potential target, yet its collection of technologies have proved tactically relevant for many years. The P-8 was the platform which obtained the video of Chinese “land reclamation” in the South China Sea years ago. Many are likely to recall that this was known as a “phony island building” enterprise designed to help advance the PRCs territorial claims in the region. The P-8 footage was able to show these activities to the world in an effort to garner international support in a China deterrence effort.

In a broader strategic sense, however, a regular surveillance presence and forward positioned platforms in the Taiwan strait would seem critical to any deterrence efforts for a number of key reasons. For instance, should the PRC launch any kind of unexpected, rapid, surprise amphibious attack on Taiwan, an ability to defend Taiwan would likely rely heavily upon a US Navy forward presence in the form of surface ships to bring F-35s within range, attack submarines to counter any Chinese undersea and surface presence and “surveillance” technologies such as drones and the P-8.

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The Chinese submarine threat is indeed quite significant in terms of both attack submarines and SSBN nuclear-armed boats. In recent years, the PLA-Navy has been testing, developing and preparing to integrate a new JL-3 submarine-launched nuclear-armed missile with a much longer range than its predecessor, the JL-2. A JL-3 is reportedly capable of traveling as far as 4,000 miles, a capability which could easily hold Hawaii and even parts of the continental US at risk.

Also, should Chinese submarines remain undetected within the small 100-mile distance between mainland China and the Taiwan Strait, they would be well positioned to attack Taiwan with undersea-launched cruise missiles and threaten US and allied surface ships with torpedoes. This is likely why the US Navy hopes to keep as much of a watchful eye on the area as may be possible. Should a P-8 succeed in locating PLA-Navy submarines near or beneath the surface, location specifics could quickly be sent to surface ships, attack aircraft and even US Navy attack submarines in position to attack or destroy PLA-subs.  Despite the well-known discussion regarding fast-emerging Chinese threats, the US Navy is still believed to operate with undersea superiority, something the US and allied Navies would likely leverage in any conflict.