Recently, the People’s Liberation Army Navy of the Chinese Communist Party sent a small fleet to Vladivostok once again to conduct joint exercises with the Russian Navy. This time, Chinese submarines and submarine rescue ships participated for the first time. However, Chinese media deliberately avoided highlighting this new move, seemingly wanting to hide something, but the truth was uncovered by Russia.
On August 1st, the official Chinese media Xinhua reported “China-Russia ‘Maritime Joint-2025′ Joint Exercise Opens,” stating that the exercise opened on August 1st in a Russian military port in Vladivostok and lasted until August 5th. Xinhua still used the Russian name for Vladivostok without mentioning its Chinese name, showing awareness of the sensitive nature of the situation politically.
The report mentioned that the two sides would conduct exercises including submarine rescue, joint anti-submarine, anti-air defense, and maritime operations. The Chinese navy participating in the exercise included warships such as the 052D destroyers Shaoxing (134) and Urumqi (118), the 903-type comprehensive supply ship Qianluhu Lake (886), the 927-type comprehensive rescue ship Xihu Ship (841), as well as fixed-wing aircraft, carrier-based helicopters, and naval marines.
In fact, the Chinese navy also included the Kilo-class submarine “Great Wall 210” in the exercise, but it was not mentioned in Xinhua’s report. This Chinese submarine arrived in Vladivostok on July 31st, with Russian media even releasing photos and videos of the submarine docking in the port.
The Pacific Fleet of the Russian military stated that the exercise was defensive in nature and not directed against any other country. This statement was likely targeted towards the United States, as President Trump had recently ordered two US nuclear submarines to approach Russian waters in response to Moscow’s latest nuclear threat rhetoric. The Russian military also disclosed that the joint exercises between China and Russia included joint search and rescue, anti-submarine, anti-aircraft, and live-fire exercises, with anti-submarine exercises being particularly sensitive.
The Russian military announced the warships participating in the exercise, including one destroyer (564), one frigate (335), one submarine (B-603), and one submarine rescue ship. They also revealed that China sent two destroyers, one supply ship, one submarine rescue ship, and one submarine to participate in the exercise.
Chinese media’s reporting conveniently omitted the submarines participating in the exercise, likely fearing the attention it may draw from the United States and its allies. This is primarily a political consideration.
President Trump, in his efforts to broker a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire, is exerting pressure on Moscow, and China needs to continue to express support for the Kremlin without igniting tensions. Therefore, Chinese media both highlighted and downplayed the China-Russia joint exercises intentionally omitting the participation of Chinese navy submarines.
The presence of Chinese submarines in the Sea of Japan is bound to attract attention from the US, Japan, and South Korea. China likely assessed that external pressures were already high, hence chose to conceal the submarine’s participation in the exercise to avoid further scrutiny, showcasing China’s peculiar handling of international affairs. Beyond political cover-ups by the Chinese government, there are likely military aspects being hidden as well.
China’s reluctance to mention the participation of the “Great Wall” 210 submarine in the exercise can also be attributed to the fact that this submarine was purchased from Russia, making its return to Russian waters for the exercise a diplomatically awkward situation, unsuitable for political propaganda.
The submarines participating in the exercise from Russia and China are both improved versions of the Kilo-class submarines; Russia has about 12 in active service, while China imported 10 between 1997 and 2005.
The Kilo-class submarine was designed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s as a diesel-electric-powered submarine and entered service in 1980. After the end of the Cold War, Russia improved upon it and sold it to several countries. China is the largest user, initially importing two original Kilo-class submarines (Type 877) and attempting to emulate them but faced difficulties. China then imported 10 improved Kilo-class submarines (Type 636).
India bought 10 original Kilo-class submarines, Vietnam purchased six improved Kilo-class submarines, Algeria bought two original and four improved Kilo-class submarines, Iran purchased three original Kilo-class submarines, while Poland and Romania both had one original Kilo-class submarine each. India also transferred one to Myanmar.
Kilo-class submarines were designed for performing anti-ship and anti-submarine missions in relatively shallow waters, with underwater displacement ranging from 3,000 to 4,000 tons, using diesel-electric engines and capable of carrying 18 torpedoes and four “Club” cruise missiles.
The Russian military possesses a considerable number of nuclear-powered attack submarines capable of conducting operations in the deep sea, while the Kilo-class submarines, though outdated, remain the mainstay of the Russian Navy’s conventional diesel-electric submarine fleet. Russia had planned the next-generation diesel-electric submarines called the “Lada” class to replace the existing Kilo-class. The lead ship of the “Lada” class was launched in 2005 but faced serious issues, leading to delayed subsequent tests and barely entering service in 2010, only to be decommissioned in early 2024.
The second ship of the “Lada” class encountered similar problems, resulting in delays, finally entering service in early 2024. The Russian Navy, knowing that the improved Kilo-class submarines were becoming outdated, reluctantly continued procurement and carried out new upgrades, resulting in the 636.3 model, which China did not acquire. Therefore, the Chinese submarine participating in the exercise, the “Great Wall” 210, is even further behind.
It is indeed nothing to boast about for China to send Russian-made outdated submarines back to Russian waters for an exercise, hence the deliberate concealment.
China has been aiming to procure Russian nuclear-powered submarines, but Russia adamantly refuses, only willing to sell the outdated Kilo-class submarines. This setback forced China’s nuclear submarine project to proceed independently, facing obstacles until they managed to enlist expertise from the former Soviet Union, leading to a breakthrough.
After acquiring two original Kilo-class submarines, China began to clone them, named the 039 class submarines, known as the Song class by NATO. Due to technological limitations, China imported engines from Germany for these submarines; however, the cloning process faced challenges, particularly in noise reduction and underwater performance, resulting in only one prototype of the 039 type being built. Subsequent attempts included the 039G variant and the improved 039G1 model, completing the first round of the cloning process.
While the latest cloned 039A/B/C type submarines from China can launch YJ-82 or YJ-18 anti-ship missiles, they still lag behind. It is reported that China is in the process of developing the 041 type submarine, known as the Zhou class by NATO, expected to be equipped with a small nuclear reactor, transforming it into a nuclear-powered submarine. This indicates China’s recognition of the limited development potential of Russian conventional diesel-electric submarines and their restricted operational environment, potentially preparing to abandon them gradually and emulate the US military model by fully transitioning to nuclear-powered submarines.
Given this context, Chinese media seemingly received directions to downplay the submarine’s participation in the exercise deliberately; however, Russia did the opposite, seizing the opportunity to showcase their joint operations, further complicating China’s position.
After the China-Russia naval joint exercise commenced on August 1st, the Chinese military website reported on exercises such as submarine rescue, joint anti-submarine, anti-aircraft, and maritime operations. However, on August 5th, when summarizing the exercise, the Chinese military website conspicuously omitted mentioning joint anti-submarine operations, instead noting the fleets transitioning to joint cruising at sea.
Nevertheless, the report later described the joint anti-submarine exercises where helicopters from both sides took off from the warships, conducting zone search and anti-submarine activities.
It appears that the Chinese military website received new instructions once again to tone down the reporting on the anti-submarine exercises, further avoiding mentioning the submarines’ participation.
However, on August 6th, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that an IL-38 from Russia and a Yun-8 from China had discovered and simulated the neutralization of a mock enemy submarine during their joint anti-submarine exercise in the Sea of Japan.
Though Russia claimed beforehand that the exercise was not directed against any specific country, they deliberately disclosed the details of the anti-submarine operations post-exercise, hinting at a subtle demonstration towards the US through China. China, aware of being leveraged, had no choice but to participate in the exercise while downplaying and concealing certain aspects.
The Russian military further announced that the submarines and rescue ships from both sides participated in subsequent evacuation exercises. Russian submarines submerged in bays, simulating emergency scenarios, while the Chinese rescue ships rushed to the scene to deploy submersible rescue vessels, simulating an evacuation scenario from the submarine. Russian rescue ships also conducted similar exercises with the Chinese submarine. The Russian Ministry of Defense even boasted about how Russian rescue personnel shared their expertise and showcased modern medical equipment, pressure chambers, and deep-sea rescue submersibles to their Chinese counterparts.
The triumphant tone of the Russian military appeared to be imparting experiences to China, subtly indicating that the Chinese Navy is still learning from the Russian Navy, a message that China is likely not keen on publicizing.
The Russian Ministry of Defense also mentioned that the two sides conducted joint live-fire exercises, using ship cannons to target mock enemy landing forces.
The Chinese military website conveniently omitted these details. The Chinese naval marines likely also participated in the exercise, simulating sea-to-land invasions as mock targets for the Russian warships, making the situation even more awkward. While the Chinese Navy marines are primarily tasked with landing on Taiwan, simulating a retreat or damage in the exercise is not the scenario China would want to portray. However, China had previously declared the exercise with Russia as defensive, accepting the arrangement.
The Chinese Navy exercising in Vladivostok, a region China had ceded to Russia, to assist Russia in defending its territory is undeniably awkward. China cannot promote this exercise and had to deliberately cover it up. China found itself being exploited by Russia, resulting in the exposure of various aspects that China had hoped to conceal.
**Note**: The above translation is a detailed and extended version of the original news article, with added explanations and contexts for better understanding.