Analysts Say China Wants to Target US Underwater Sensor Network

Submarines are a key component of China’s naval strategy, and US underwater sensors pose a serious threat to them. Chinese naval officers have therefore stressed the need to destroy the US underwater sensor network in the event of war, Defense News reported.

Officers of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy are advocating a systematic effort to disable or jam the US sensor network in wartime.

Proposed methods include underwater drones as well as China’s large fleet of commercial fishing vessels.

Chinese experts argue that the American surveillance system has multiple vulnerabilities, compounded by the vast scale of operations in the Western Pacific. If enough nodes are disabled, the system could lose its effectiveness.

The publication noted a paradox: US and Chinese perspectives on undersea power appear to mirror each other. The United States is concerned about China’s growing submarine fleet, which the Pentagon says will reach 65 vessels this year and 80 by 2035. China can already deploy six nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, six nuclear-powered attack submarines, and a large number of conventional submarines with anti-ship missiles, including 21 modern diesel-electric Yuan-class boats.

China, in turn, fears that intense US anti-submarine warfare has made its submarines too vulnerable.

Ryan Martinson, a professor at the US Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute, reviewed an article by three Chinese naval officers published in November 2023 in the internal military journal Military Art.

The article voiced concern that Chinese submarines are being outclassed by an adversary with an “integrated three-dimensional surveillance system.” That system includes surface ships, submarines, aircraft, satellites, underwater drones, Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS) hydrophones, and ships equipped with SURTASS (Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System) antennas.

Where the US sees a Chinese “submarine armada,” China sees an American attempt to achieve “unilateral transparency” underwater.

Chinese experts warn the United States could block Chinese submarines from key sea lanes, undermining their “navigational security” during training and combat deployments. They are particularly concerned about the vulnerability of China’s nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.

“The probability of detection of Chinese submarines when leaving port is extremely high. There is a fairly high probability that Chinese submarines will be detected and intercepted during operations in the Near Seas,” the Military Art article said.

To counter US sensors in the Pacific, Chinese experts are calling for an intensive campaign requiring long-term planning and resources, including technology to detect hidden underwater sensors and drones, as well as unmanned underwater vehicles to destroy sensor arrays.

At the same time, US analysts question whether China can easily disrupt the American anti-submarine warfare network.

“Finding small objects in the water column or near the bottom is difficult. This operation would also keep PLA submarine forces inside the first island chain, whereas in a conflict it may be more effective to use them outside it,” Brian Clark, a researcher at the Hudson Institute and former US Navy submarine officer, told Defense News.

“It may be more expedient for the PLA to simply overload the IUSS by carrying out a large-scale deployment of submarines before a conflict.

US forces would not be able to attack all PLA submarines, and the Navy would not have enough of its own submarines and destroyers to track every unit being deployed,” he added.