Has China overtaken US in nuclear submarine production race? Here's what IISS's new report explains

In a significant development, China has ramped up its production of nuclear-powered submarines over the last five years and is deploying them faster than the United States, posing a challenge to Washington’s long-standing superiority at sea, according to a recent assessment by the UK-based think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

“China has rapidly expanded its nuclear-powered-submarine production, surpassing US launch numbers and tonnage in the period 2021–25. Although qualitative differences compared with US and European designs persist, the increasing number of Chinese submarines presents a growing challenge for Western countries struggling to expand their own production,” the think tank states in the report.

The report indicated that China has rapidly expanded the output of the nuclear-powered submarine fleet, including attack and ballistic-missile submarines. The IISS report also confirmed that China has launched 10 nuclear-powered submarines, along with both ballistic-missile SSBNs such as the Type 094 (Jin-class) and attack or guided-missile submarines like the Type 093B Shang-class variants. Together, these vessels account for a total displacement of around 79,000 tons between 2021 and 2025.

Total submarines launched by US & China in 2016–2020 timeframe

By comparison, the United States launched seven submarines over the same period, with a combined displacement of about 55,000 tonnes. This marks a sharp reversal from the 2016–2020 timeframe, when China commissioned only three submarines totalling 23,000 tonnes, while the US launched seven submarines with a displacement of roughly 55,500 tonnes.

China’s nuclear submarines are being built by Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co. (BSHIC) at its shipyard in Huludao, northern China. The IISS report, titled “Boomtime in Bohai,” shows that the annual output pace of the company was quite less as compared to its US counterparts until recently, but between 2019 and 2022, production has increased significantly along with a second hall and other facilities.

Citing the “Military Balance 2025” report, the IISS analysis also confirmed that, as of early 2025, China possessed 12 operational nuclear-powered submarines, six guided-missile or attack submarines and six ballistic-missile submarines. Meanwhile, the United States Navy (USN) has a large fleet of 65 submarines, out of which 14 are ballistic missile vessels designed for attacks, and 51 are attack or guided-missile submarines.