Chinese submarine 201
diesel-electric attack submarine class
The Chinese submarine with the hull number 201 is a Chinese diesel–electric auxiliary submarine. It is used to test systems and technologies, including test launching ballistic missiles (SLBM). 201 is the sole member of its class, designated Type 032 (NATO reporting name: Qing).
History
201 commissioned into the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in 2012; the previous SLBM testbed, a Golf-class submarine (Type 031), subsequently decommissioned in 2013. It participated in testing the JL-2 SLBM. 201 made the first three JL-3 test launches starting in 2018.
Description
201 resembles an enlarged Type 039A submarine, with bow-mounted retractable diving planes, instead of sail-mounted. The sail is disproportionately long, and extends below the keel like the Golf-class; at least one ballistic missile launch tube is fitted at the rear of the sail. In 2017, the height of the rear sail was increased, likely to support the larger JL-3.
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
Saunders, Stephan, ed. (2015).
“Chinese submarine 201” enters the record as diesel-electric attack submarine class. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Chinese, submarine and diesel-electric can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7860642. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2012, 2013, 2018 and 2017.
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This entry incorporates text from “Chinese submarine 201” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.