CRUISING DEEP under the surface of the sea, the crew of a PLA Song-class submarine detect an 'enemy' destroyer and supply ship.
The sonar operators identify the surface ships by listening to sounds and monitoring signals emitted by the vessels. With the targets identified, the captain orders the crew to prepare for combat.
'In the torpedo stowage bay at the front of the submarine, torpedo sailors are busy following the launch procedures in manipulating all types of keyboards, buttons and valves,' according to a published report of the recent exercise.
The torpedo is launched, slightly rocking the submarine. 'Things are happening so fast. Soon after the torpedo is released the screen of the sonar monitor suddenly shows a highpulse peak,' said the report in the PLA newspaper, Liberation Army Daily.
Submariners are by nature a secretive breed, preferring to plumb the depths quietly, and reports detailing operations aboard their vessels are rare in the West and usually even harder to come by on the mainland. However, there have been a slew of reports in recent months as the official Chinese media trumpets a new stage in the evolution of the PLA's submarine forces.
The reports are being studied closely by Western and Asian military analysts, and particularly in the United States, where experts are following the mainland's military development in a politically charged environment focused on China's rising stature.
