China for the first time is likely to have submarines equipped with long-range nuclear missiles later this year as part of an increasingly potent submarine fleet, a top U.S. Navy officer said Tuesday. Admiral Samuel Locklear, the chief of U.S. Pacific Command, said the latest class of Chinese submarines would be armed with a new ballistic missile with an estimated range of 7,500 kilometers. "This will give China its first credible sea-based nuclear deterrent, probably before the end of 2014," Locklear told the Senate Armed Services Committee. He was commenting on the production of China's JIN-class nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine and the new JL-2 missile carried by the vessel. "China's advance in submarine capabilities is significant. They possess a large and increasingly capable submarine force," Locklear told the committee. "I think they'll have in the next decade or so a fairly well modernized force of probably 60 to 70 submarines, which is a lot of submarines for a regional power."
