page_title: People's Liberation Army Navy Submarine Force
section_title: Nuclear-powered fleet submarines
hierarchical_section_title: People's Liberation Army Navy Submarine Force / Nuclear-powered fleet submarines
caption_attribution_description: English: Chinese Type 039A submarine: Diesel-electric attack, NATO nickname: Yuan Class.
context_page_description: The People's Liberation Army Navy Submarine Force is the submarine service of the People's Liberation Army Navy. It consists of all types of submarines in operational service organized into three fleets: the North Sea Fleet, the East Sea Fleet, and the South Sea Fleet. Submarines have long been one of the three focuses of the People's Liberation Army Navy, and when the decision was made in late 2006 to concentrate on building other principal surface combatants to strengthen the air defense and to further delay the construction of aircraft carriers due to insufficient air cover, submarines will continue to play the lead dominant role in the assault force for the PLAN. Currently, PLANSF operates a fleet of 66 submarines which include nuclear as well as conventional submarines.
  Its surface branch counterpart is the People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force.
context_section_description: China was the first Asian country and the 5th globally to successfully design, build and commission a nuclear-powered submarine. The PLAN understands the value of nuclear submarines and the doctrine surrounding them. The PLAN currently has two types of nuclear-powered attack submarines in service:
  Type 093 submarine (NATO designation Shang-class) - In service.
  Type 091 submarine (NATO designation Han-class) - In service.
caption: Type 093 (Shang-class)
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "96", "Image YResolution": "96", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image ExifOffset": "90", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "442", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "167"}