Dreadnought-class submarine vs Type 039A/B/C submarine

Dreadnought-class submarine — licensed concept illustration

ASubmarines

Dreadnought-class submarine

Nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine

Concept illustration

Credit

Unknown author Unknown author · OGL 3 · Resized · OGL 3 · Source ↗ · Modified

Type 039A/B/C submarine — licensed reference photograph

BSubmarines

Type 039A/B/C submarine

Attack submarine

Credit

Darkranch23 at English Wikipedia · Public domain · Resized · Public domain · Source ↗ · Modified

First system

Second system

At a glance

Side by side

Length comparisonOne shared metre scale

Dreadnought-class submarineLength

153.6 m

Length source ↗

Type 039A/B/C submarineLength

77.6 m

Length source ↗

Lengths retain their source configuration and measurement scope.

Dreadnought-class submarinelarger figure on 2 of 2

Length+98%
Complement+261%

Type 039A/B/C submarinelarger figure on 0 of 2

None

Counts only measures both sources give with the same scope. A larger figure is not a better system.

Measured figures

Head to head

13 of 25 rows sourced on both sides

154m

77.6m

Length+98%

All recorded figures & sources

153.6 m

Length

Single source

153.6 metres (504 ft)^[source]

77.6 m

Length

Single source

77.6 m (254 ft 7 in)^[source]

—

8.4m

Beam

All recorded figures & sources

8.4 m

Beam

Single source

8.4 m (27 ft 7 in)^[source]

—

6.7mDraft

Draught

All recorded figures & sources

6.7 m

Draft

Single source

6.7 m (22 ft 0 in)^[source]

17,200t

3,600tSubmerged

Displacement

All recorded figures & sources

17,200 tonnes

Displacement

Single source

17,200 t (16,900 long tons; 19,000 short tons)^[source]

3,600 tonnes

Submerged

Single source

3,600 t (3,500 long tons) (submerged)^[source]

130

Complement+261%

All recorded figures & sources

130 people

Complement

Single source

130^[source]

36 people

Complement

Single source

36^[source]

≥ 37km/hMaximum; At least

37km/hMaximum; Speed

SpeedScopes differ

All recorded figures & sources

≥ 37.04 km/h

Maximum; At least

Single source

At least 20 knots^[source]

37 km/h

Maximum; Speed

Single source

20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)^[source]

Bars compare reported quantities only. A larger figure does not make a system better; configurations and test conditions differ.

Configuration

Details

Dreadnought-class submarine and Type 039A/B/C submarine configuration
Specification	Dreadnought-class submarine	Type 039A/B/C submarine
Range	Limited only by food and mechanical components^[source]	—
Builders	BAE Systems , Barrow-in-Furness , England^[source]	Wuchang Shipbuilding , Wuhan^[source]
Operators	Royal Navy^[source]	Current operators: People's Liberation Army Navy Pakistan Navy Future operators Royal Thai Navy^[source]
Preceded by	Vanguard class^[source]	Type 039^[source]
Cost	£ 31 billion (2016) (equivalent to £ 40.46 billion in 2024) lifetime cost of total programme (est.) £ 7.75 billion (2016) (equivalent to £ 10.12 billion in 2024) per unit (est.)^[source]	—
Built	First expected by early 2030s^[source]	—
Planned	4^[source]	≥25^[source]
Building	4^[source]	—
Active	0^[source]	At least 22 submarines: ≥1 Type 039C Per United States Department of Defense : 21 Type 039A and Type 039B combined Per International Institute for Strategic Studies : 4 Type 039A and 16 Type 039B^[source]
Type	Nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine^[source]	Attack submarine^[source]
Propulsion	Rolls-Royce PWR3 nuclear reactor , turbo-electric drive, pump-jet^[source]	Diesel-electric, 1 shaft, AIP^[source]
Armament	4 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes for: Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes 12 × ballistic missile tubes for: Lockheed Trident II D5 SLBMs^[source]	6 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes for: Yu-10 torpedoes Yu-6 torpedoes Anti-ship cruise missiles including YJ-82 , YJ-18 (Type 039A and Type 039B) and YJ-19 (Type 039B and Type 039C)^[source]
Country of origin	United Kingdom^[source] United Kingdom^[source]	People's Republic of China^[source]
Name	—	Type 039A Type 039B Type 039C^[source]
Succeeded by	—	Type 041^[source]
Subclasses	—	Hangor class (Pakistan) Matchanu class (Thailand) (under construction)^[source]
In commission	—	2006–present^[source]
Completed	—	≥22^[source]
Test depth	—	250 m (820 ft)^[source]

FORCETALLY

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Dreadnought-class submarine

Type 039A/B/C submarine

Range

Limited only by food and mechanical components^[source]

—

Builders

BAE Systems , Barrow-in-Furness , England^[source]

Wuchang Shipbuilding , Wuhan^[source]

Operators

Royal Navy^[source]

Current operators: People's Liberation Army Navy Pakistan Navy Future operators Royal Thai Navy^[source]

Preceded by

Vanguard class^[source]

Type 039^[source]

Cost

£ 31 billion (2016) (equivalent to £ 40.46 billion in 2024) lifetime cost of total programme (est.) £ 7.75 billion (2016) (equivalent to £ 10.12 billion in 2024) per unit (est.)^[source]

—

Built

First expected by early 2030s^[source]

—

Planned

4^[source]

≥25^[source]

Building

4^[source]

—

Active

0^[source]

At least 22 submarines: ≥1 Type 039C Per United States Department of Defense : 21 Type 039A and Type 039B combined Per International Institute for Strategic Studies : 4 Type 039A and 16 Type 039B^[source]

Type

Nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine^[source]

Attack submarine^[source]

Propulsion

Rolls-Royce PWR3 nuclear reactor , turbo-electric drive, pump-jet^[source]

Diesel-electric, 1 shaft, AIP^[source]

Armament

4 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes for: Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes 12 × ballistic missile tubes for: Lockheed Trident II D5 SLBMs^[source]

6 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes for: Yu-10 torpedoes Yu-6 torpedoes Anti-ship cruise missiles including YJ-82 , YJ-18 (Type 039A and Type 039B) and YJ-19 (Type 039B and Type 039C)^[source]

Country of origin

United Kingdom^[source]

People's Republic of China^[source]

Name

—

Type 039A Type 039B Type 039C^[source]

Succeeded by

—

Type 041^[source]

Subclasses

—

Hangor class (Pakistan) Matchanu class (Thailand) (under construction)^[source]

In commission

—

2006–present^[source]

Completed

—

≥22^[source]

Test depth

—

250 m (820 ft)^[source]