---
title: "China May Build A Diving Guided-Missile Ship, And The Plans Look Nuts"
date: "2017-06-02"
modified: "2017-06-02"
authors:
  - name: "Sarah Sicard"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/sarahsicard.md"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/china-may-build-diving-guided-missile-ship-plans-look-nuts/"
categories:
  - "Around the World"
  - "China"
  - "Missiles"
  - "News"
  - "Ships"
  - "Submarines"
  - "Tech & Tactics"
  - "Weapons"
tags:
  - "indo-pacific command"
---

# China May Build A Diving Guided-Missile Ship, And The Plans Look Nuts

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/03/19040700-1.jpg>)

The Chinese navy may be putting a new spin on a classic warship: It’s looking into the possibility of giving missile-laden arsenal ships submersible properties, enabling them to hide stockpiles of missiles, undetectable to radar, below the ocean surface.

The Chinese are exploring two arsenal-ship versions, according to [Popular Science](<https://www.popsci.com/futuristic-chinese-warship-concept-is-making-waves#page-5>): One is a high-speed surface warship that can submerge at will, while the second is more similar to a traditional submarine.

What could a submersible surface ship do that a conventional submarine can’t? It could go *really* fast on the surface, thanks to a hydroplaning hull, Popular Science reports:

*For stealth operations, the arsenal ship would have most of its hull inherently submerged, with only the bridge and a few other parts of the ship above the waterline, reducing the radar cross section. But when traveling with a high-speed naval taskforce, the arsenal ship will sacrifice stealth to use its flat hull bottom to hydroplane at high speeds, cutting across the waves like a speedboat or amphibious armored* *vehicle.*

baoxiuyuan via Popular Science

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/03/image-placeholder-title-78.png>)

The alternative plan calls for a platform that behaves similar to World War II submarines, Popular Science writes — typically staying at the surface, but able to completely submerge for stealth.

baoxiuyuan via Poplular Science

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/03/image-placeholder-title-79.png>)

Two Chinese universities are responsible for the designing the concepts, according to [the Wuhan city government](<https://www.whst.gov.cn/xwzx/show/31732.aspx>). Those institutions, the Wuhan University of Science and Technology and Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Naval University of Engineering, were awarded a [state prize for the work](<https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/china-unveils-a-new-concept-of-naval-warships-semi-submersible-arsenal-ship.498164/>).

The concepts have been in the works since 2011, but anticipation is building. According to Popular Science, the diving missile ship’s “proof-of-concept is under construction at Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industrial Corporation, to be launched after 2020.”

## More

- [What We Know About China’s Brand New Homegrown Aircraft Carrier](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/china-aircraft-carrier.md>)
- [Here’s What We Know About China’s Secretive Electromagnetic Railgun](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/china-electromagnetic-railgun-photos.md>)
- [China is giving the US Navy a case of ship envy in the Pacific](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/china-navy-ships-pacific.md>)
- [China has launched its first amphibious assault ship](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/chinese-military.md>)
- [Marines simulated a takedown of a hostile ship in the South China Sea in a ‘flex’ at China](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marine-corps-south-china-sea-ship-seizure-exercise.md>)
- [Could China’s Military Capability Render The Aircraft Carrier Obsolete?](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/could-chinas-military-capability-render-the-aircraft-carrier-obsolete.md>)
- [The Pentagon wants a buttload of guided rockets to slap Russia and China from hundreds of miles away](<https://taskandpurpose.com/tech-tactics/guided-multiple-launch-rocket-system-2020-pentagon-budget.md>)
- [This Is One Of US Military Planners’ Greatest Fears In A War With North Korea](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/north-korea-medevac-war.md>)