From Asia Times China’s advances in Arctic may pose security threat to Canada
Calgary academic believes Beijing will conduct naval operations in the Arctic soon and that China’s next-generation nuclear subs will have ‘under-ice’ capabilities
“The Chinese have expanded their overall naval capability from 1994 on to the point of becoming the real world’s second-largest navy,” he said. “Not to mention that China’s naval shipbuilding currently surpasses that of any other country, including the United States.”
…Chinese navy actually has more icebreakers operational today than either the American or Canadian naval forces.
China’s new Type 094 and next-generation Type 096 nuclear-powered missile submarines will likely have “under-ice” capacities, posing a great threat to both Canada and the US.
“It was agreed in 2005 that NORAD would have a maritime detection mission, but there have been limited efforts to actually operationalize this requirement,” Huebert admitted, adding that prospects of any improvement in the immediate future were not that great, given the strained relations between US President Donald Trump’s administration and the Canadian government.
“operationalize”? Is that bureaucratese for “fulfill”?
…Chinese navy actually has more icebreakers operational today than either the American or Canadian naval forces.
While there’s hardly any technical information available apart from main dimensions, those four “Haibing” icebreakers (three different generations; newest pictured below) look more like ice-class patrol vessels (not entirely unlike Canada’s AOPS). They operate in the seasonally-frozen Bohai Sea and, to my knowledge, are not intended for Arctic or Antarctic operations.
