The Chinese language Individuals’s Liberation Army Navy’s fleet of assault submarines are anticipated to see their missile carrying capacities elevated considerably with the mixing of the brand new YJ-19 scramjet powered hypersonic cruise missiles, which has the potential to revolutionise the fleet’s anti-ship capabilities. The YJ-19 has a smaller diameter than the service’s different cruise missiles, together with the newly unveiled the YJ-17 and YJ-20, and seems to have been designed to be launched from submarines’ 533 mm diameter torpedo tubes, relatively than from vertical launch cells. This is able to permit it to be deployed alongside different increased diameter hypersonic missiles, such because the YJ-21, to considerably improve the general missile carriage of Chinese language submarines. In comparison with bigger hypersonic missiles, the YJ-19 is anticipated to have a shorter vary and decrease payload, with its attain probably being restricted to round 500 kilometres. Among the many indications that the missile class is meant to be used by submarines relatively than floor ships are the distinct white paint scheme it has been displayed in, contrasting with the blue scheme used different missile courses, in addition to the absence of seen suspension lugs.
Solely Russia, China and North Korea are thought to presently deploy ship launched hypersonic anti-ship missiles, with the Russian Navy having obtained its first Zircon missiles in December 2019, whereas North Korea unveiled a hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile class in April 2025 and carried out a check launch from the brand new destroyer Choi Hyon. China operationalised its first ship launched hypersonic anti-ship missile, the YJ-21, a while close to the start of the last decade, with its capabilities main it to extensively be thought-about essentially the most succesful class of ship launched anti-ship weapon on the earth. The YJ-19 was first unveiled in September 3 on the parade commemorating the Chinese language and allied victory over the Japanese Empire in 1945, and is one in every of a number of hypersonic anti-ship missile courses presently in service. The brand new missile is anticipated to equip China’s six Sort 093 Class nuclear powered lengthy vary assaults submarines and its massive fleet Sort 039 class diesel digital assaults medium vary submarines, of which 33 are presently in service. Not solely are hypersonic cruise missiles extra environment friendly, with the power to journey higher distances on a restricted gasoline load, however they’re additionally far tougher to detect, observe or intercept, considerably scale back adversaries’ response instances, and may trigger important injury with the sheer kinetic pressure of their impacts.
