The Diplomat:
China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has deployed a Type 039A Yuan-class diesel-electric attack submarine (SSK) and a Type 926 submarine support ship to the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) earlier this month, sources within Indian Ministry of Defense (MoD) told India Today on October 15.
The PLAN last dispatched one of its submarines, also a Type 039A Yuan-class SSK, plus a sub support vessel to the Indian Ocean on a five-month “anti-piracy” patrol in June 2017. This month’s deployment marks the eighth time that the PLAN has dispatched a submarine to the IOR since 2013.
Neither the Chinese nor Indian defense ministries have publicly confirmed the dispatch of a PLAN submarine to the IOR.
Type 039A Yuan-class (also designated Type 041) SSKs made their first public debut in 2006. The boats are replacing older Type 039 Song-class conventionally-powered submarines. The Yuan-class is allegedly one of the quietest sub classes currently in service with the PLAN, although Chinese SSKs remain noisier and easier detectable than SSKs of Western-equipped navies.
