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Blogger believes he spotted new Chinese sub

An image of what could be one of China’s new nuclear ballistic missile submarines is available on the Google Maps and Google Earth satellite-image site, a defense blogger is claiming.

The satellite picture was discovered by Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project for the Federation of American Scientists, and announced Tuesday on his blog. Kristensen believes the picture, taken by the Quickbird satellite late last year, reveals China’s new Jin-class, or Type 094, nuclear ballistic missile sub.

The new sub class is approximately 35 feet longer than its predecessor, the Xia-class, also known as Type 092, according to two images Kristensen compares on the blog. The Jin-class sub has an extended midsection that houses 12 missile tubes and part of the reactor compartment, Kristensen explains.

The new sub was photographed at Xiaopingdao Submarine Base south of Dalian, while the Xia-class boat was captured in 2005 at Jianggezhuang Submarine Base approximately 14 miles east of Qingdao — approximately 193 miles from Dalian, Kristensen notes.

In 2006, the Office of Naval Intelligence estimated that the Chinese would build five Jin-class subs; however, the latest Pentagon report on Chinese defense capabilities, released in May, did not cite this figure, he adds.