CMSI China Maritime Reports
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Description
Main Findings
Led by the political commissar with the commanding officer serving as deputy, party committees are responsible for major decision-making, maintaining party control, training, and general leadership aboard People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) submarines. While Chinese sources extoll this collective leadership model, it is unclear how this command structure influences decision-making efficacy in practice.
PLAN political officers play a critical role in the leadership and decision making on PLAN submarines, but reportedly lack understanding of submarine operations. Despite attempts to improve the operational competency of political officers, this likely remains a problem for the PLAN submarine force.
The diverse PLAN submarine fleet and its increasingly ambitious operations require a high degree of technical competency within the submarine force. Recent reforms to the career structure of technical officers can be seen as efforts to retain increasingly needed technical expertise in the PLA, in part to meet this requirement.
According to PLA media reporting, the PLAN has made progress in expanding educational and career opportunities for NCOs, while enhancing their professionalization and technical competence with updated policies aimed at recruiting more college educated NCOs.
PLAN submarines’ apparent lack of a dedicated “supply department” may pose challenges to the submarine force’s ability to become a true “far seas protection” force. The PLAN is attempting to address this via technology investments at Shore Service Departments.
The U.S. submarine force uses lessons learned from incidents and accidents not only to enhance operations but also as a training tool. In contrast, the PLA treats accidents and near misses primarily as opportunities to promote the importance of political commissars in military decision making, while prioritizing party loyalty and propaganda value over genuine learning. While public discussions in Chinese media about submarine accidents and incidents are scarce, those that do exist reveal a clear focus on using such events for political messaging.
The PLAN submarine force has invested in simulators and training systems to enable its crews to exercise operational skills and maintain qualifications. In recent years, this has included more advanced technologies including virtual reality systems that permit some levels of training without as much physical infrastructure.
Publisher
China Maritime Studies Institute, U.S Naval War College
City
Newport, Rhode Island
Keywords
China Maritime Studies Institute, CMSI, PLAN, People's Liberation Army Navy, Submarine, Submarines, Submarine Warfare
Recommended Citation
Yu, Phil and Rosen, Benjamin, "China Maritime Report #59: Be Focused, Be Humble, Be Happy: Career Progression, Organization, and Training of PLAN Submariners" (2026). CMSI China Maritime Reports. 59.
https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cmsi-maritime-reports/59
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