Inside the Y-8Q: China’s new sub-hunting talisman

David Axe details China’s latest anti-submarine warfare asset, the Y-8Q

The US Navy and its allies have taken a hard look at the western Pacific Ocean in recent years and came to an unsurprising conclusion: they all need more and better submarines for patrols near China.

The US fleet is beginning a long, expensive effort to ramp up production of new nuclear-powered attack submarines. The Royal Navy (RN) has begun some of its own nuke boats and, last September, the Australian navy signed a pact (much to France’s disapproval) with the USN and RN, known as AUKA, to develop its own nuclear attack subs. While the Japanese navy is doubling down on super-quiet hybrid diesel-electric boats.

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