1
0
The Chinese military authorities last week released footage of the country's nuclear ballistic missile submarines for the first time.
The propaganda video shows what's believed to be the Type 092 vessels, which was designed and built by China and is the country's first nuclear submarine.
The video also shows soldiers launching a ballistic missile from a submarine in an undated clip.
China's first nuclear submarine is unveiled on state television
The dramatic video was aired onBa Yi TV, China's military channel, on its website on April 22. It captures the interior of a submarine and soldiers carrying out military exercise on the vessel.
The video also featured a fleet of submarines sailing in the sea during a naval review as soldiers posing with terrifying firearms.
According to China's Shenzhen TV, the submarine is thought to be the Type 092 nuclear submarine.
Little is known about the watercraft, but according to public information, the vessel carries 12 made-in-China Julang-1 ballistic missiles which can fire as far as 2,000 kilometres (1,242 miles).
China spent 11 years and 298 million yuan (£34 million) building the Type 092 submarine in the 1970s, one of the most turbulent decades in modern China when the nation went through the Cultural Revolution.
It was China's first home-made nuclear submarine. A fleet of four are believed to be based in Qingdao, eastern China's Shandong province.
The submarine's nickname is Xia, after the first dynasty in ancient Chinese history, the Xia Dynasty (c. 2000 BC -c. 1600 BC).
It was launched in 1981 and started serving the navy in 1983. In 1988, China successfully launched a Julang-1 missile from the submarine during an experiment.
The submarine measures 120 metres (393 feet) long and 10 metres (33 feet) wide, and can dive to a maximum depth of 300 metres (984 feet), reported China.com.
The same article claimed that the submarine displaces 6,500 tons of water when it's at the surface of the sea and 7,000 tons when it's submerged.
It's believed that China has four types of nuclear submarines, namely the Type 091, 092, 093 and 094.
The Type 091 and 093 are nuclear attack submarines while the other two are nuclear missile submarines.
The Type 094 is the country's latest nuclear missile submarines, based on Hainan Island, southern China. The construction of the first 094 started in 1999 and finished in 2004.
The country is said to have four Type 092 and four Type 094.