China Tests Three-Hull Vessel With Up to 18 Suspected Missile Tubes

China is testing an unusual three-hull vessel that imagery analysts believe could travel fully or mostly underwater, surface and raise as many as 16 to 18 suspected missile tubes. The ship was built in Guangzhou and is undergoing trials at Huludao on the Bohai Sea, but China has not disclosed its specifications, weapons or intended operating model.

The proposed concept sounds like science fiction: keep most of the vessel beneath the surface, then emerge and elevate a substantial bank of launchers. Yet the available photographs and satellite imagery support only parts of that interpretation. They show a roughly 65-meter vessel with a central hull, two shorter side hulls toward the stern, large internal compartments, depth markings and a prominent snorkel. No missile launch by the vessel has been established.

What the three hulls may accomplish

The side hulls are the design’s most conspicuous feature. Unlike a conventional submarine’s single pressure hull, this arrangement resembles a trimaran, with the smaller hulls widening the vessel’s footprint near the stern. That geometry could provide additional stability when heavy equipment is lifted above the central hull.

Such stability would be important if the two large compartments contain launch tubes stored horizontally. Raising multiple tubes would move mass upward, increasing the vessel’s center of gravity and making it more sensitive to rolling. The widely spaced side hulls could counter that effect by adding buoyancy and righting leverage away from the centerline. This is a plausible engineering explanation for the form, not confirmation of the compartments’ purpose.

Naval analyst H. I. Sutton identified at least eight apparent tubes in the available imagery. He assesses that 16 to 18 may be carried if the two compartments use matching layouts. Under that interpretation, the vessel would surface, open the compartment doors and elevate the launchers before firing. The weapons themselves remain unidentified, and there is no public confirmation that any proposed missile type has been integrated.

Evidence for mostly submerged travel

Later photographs revealed depth markings on the bow and sail. Those markings strengthen the assessment that the vessel is designed to operate fully or almost fully submerged, although they do not establish how deep it can dive. Ship-design specialist Rachel Pawling estimates its fully submerged displacement at approximately 900 tonnes.

The snorkel supplies another piece of the mechanical picture. A sufficiently exposed mast could provide atmospheric air to diesel engines while the main hull remains underwater. That would permit mostly submerged propulsion without establishing the vessel as a conventional deep-diving submarine. Snorkeling also leaves part of the system above the surface and ties engine operation to atmospheric access.

This combination points toward a specialized vessel rather than a direct substitute for a conventional submarine. Its apparent operating sequence depends on changing configuration: submerged or nearly submerged for travel, surfaced for opening the compartments, and stabilized while the suspected launchers are raised. Every transition adds mechanical, control and reliability demands, particularly where large doors, lifting mechanisms and seawater exposure meet.

Why analysts suspect it may be uncrewed

The possibility of uncrewed operation comes primarily from internal volume. Pawling assesses that the large weapons compartments appear to leave little room for permanent crew accommodation. An open bridge on top of the sail could still allow a pilot to handle harbor movements, while operation away from port might rely on another control arrangement.

China has not confirmed that the vessel will operate without a permanent crew. A lack of obvious accommodation is suggestive, but it cannot reveal the control architecture, level of autonomy or whether personnel occupy other spaces. For readers following naval development in the Pacific, that uncertainty is the central tension: trials are underway on what may be an uncrewed missile carrier, while its crew arrangement, weapons and launch capability remain unconfirmed.

An uncrewed design would also face requirements extending well beyond navigation. Ballast management, propulsion, compartment doors, launcher elevation, fault detection and recovery would have to work reliably with limited or no onboard intervention. Communications and remote supervision would add further integration questions, but the imagery does not show how China intends to solve them.

There is historical precedent for submarines that had to surface before launching cruise missiles. Soviet Juliett-class diesel-electric submarines carried four such missiles. The Chinese test vessel’s suspected load of 16 to 18 would be far larger, but only if the imagery-based interpretation is correct. The next decisive evidence would be a confirmed launcher deployment or firing trial; until then, the three-hull ship remains a striking test platform with a visible geometry and an unverified mission.

By Stephen Wallace — Editor for AMI’s aerospace integration and unmanned mobility coverage, focused on drone manufacturing, VTOL systems, autonomous networks, and air-ground mobility links.