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China's new submarine spotted on Google Earth
06 July 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Aria Pearson

The Jin-class sub has been rumoured to exist for some time, but this image of the grey vessel moored against the lighter dock is the first public glimpse of the vessel (Image: Google Earth)

A shiny new ballistic-missile submarine docked at a naval base in China has been spied publicly for the first time using Google Earth.

The new class of nuclear sub, called the Jin-class, had been rumoured to exist for some time, but the image recently uploaded to Google Earth is the first public glimpse of the vessel.

For the past 20 years, China has maintained one ballistic-missile submarine, the Xia-class. However, it has suffered from technical problems and has never been deployed on a deterrent patrol, which involves arming the sub and sending it out to hide for long periods in the oceans.