CHINA NOT CONCERNED ON VIETNAM'S KILO-CLASS SUBMARINES

 

Vietnam's Kilo-class submarine (image source: wikipedia.org.)

According to Duowei News report on Dec. 24 last year, Vietnam purchased six Kilo-class submarines from Russia and reportedly, vietnam is likely to use the subs to cut off PLA garrison's supply line in West Philippine Sea.

China's Global Times said People's Navy of Vietnam had already received three of the ordered Kilo-class submarines from Russia. The said submarines are believed to be equipped with 3M-14E Klub-S ballistic missiles with a striking range of 280 kilometers. The range is long enough to reach South Sea Fleet headquarters in the province of Zhanjiang, Guangdong as well as the major PLA naval infrastructures in Hainan island.

 vietnam's Kilo-class submarines are also armed with GE2-01 torpedoes which are radar guided that can attack PLA ships.

However, PLA has cards up in its sleeves to counter the said subs. Also, Chinese Navy has already been using Russian subs and  has wider knowledge concerning Kilo's vulnerabilities and weaknesses, China's Global Times added.