Chinese Navy Type-093B SSN nuclear powered submarine
The Type 093 was designed in the late 1980s/early 1990s, and launched in 2002 and 2003. Only two Type 093s were built, as they are considered noisy and expensive, though much an improvement over the 1960s era Type 091 SSN.
The Type 093B is believed to be much quieter than the Type 093, building on decades of Chinese advances in metallurgy and reactor/propulsion refinements.
The Type 093B "Shang" nuclear attack submarine is first Chinese combat submarine to be able to fire vertically launched cruise missiles.
While the stealth and performance of the Type 093B's reactor are not discernible just from looking at the outside, there are other noticeable improvements.
The biggest is the installation of a vertical launch system battery behind the conning tower, which can be seen in a hydrodynamic hump blended into the hull (the VLS battery can be seen under the blue gangway).
The VLS cell gives the Type 093B an advantage over older Chinese attack submarines since instead of launching cruise missiles from the torpedo tubes, it can more quickly launch missiles from the VLS. The larger size of VLS cells also makes them a good place to launch future underwater robots and UAVs.
The Type 093B will still carry torpedo tube-launched cruise missiles, as seen in this photo. (The Chinese sailors are clearly loading a cruise missile canister into the torpedo tube, given that the smooth canister lacks the control surfaces of a torpedo).
The Type 093B's conning tower has a flared base, similar to modern attack submarines like the Type 39C conventional submarine, and the American Virginia class SSN. The flared base could contain sensors, in addition to reducing under hydrodynamic drag and noise at certain speeds.
There are also large installation mounts on the hull sides for side-mounted active sonar that will sweep for both surface warships and submarines.
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