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Description

In August of this year (2025), deep within the waters of the Northwestern Pacific, an underwater patrol was reshaping the strategic landscape of the Asia-Pacific. The Russian submarine Volkhov and the Chinese Navy’s submarine Changcheng 210 came together in a joint formation for the first time, traversing the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea to complete a joint underwater patrol spanning more than 2,000 nautical miles.

The joint underwater patrol conducted by Chinese and Russian submarine formations represents a new form of joint maritime patrol for the two navies, following their joint surface ship patrols. This move not only marks a new stage in naval cooperation—extending operations from the surface to the underwater realm—and reflects the high level of strategic mutual trust between the two nations and their militaries, but also sends a clear signal to the United States through a combat-ready posture: underwater hegemony in the Western Pacific is no longer the exclusive domain of a single power.

Publication Date

9-21-2026

Publisher

China Maritime Studies Institute, U.S Naval War College

City

Newport, Rhode Island

Keywords

China Maritime Studies Institute, CMSI, PLA, PLAN, PLA Navy, Russia, Submarine, Joint Maritime Patrol, Underwater Patrol, Western Pacific

CMSI Translations #36: The First Joint Underwater Patrol: Starting with the China-Russia

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