China’s Firefox Of The Seas: New Trimaran Semi-Sub

Flag China New images of China’s still-unnamed trimaran evoke something straight out of a James Bond film, a sleek maritime counterpart to Craig Thomas’s Firefox. Or at least Soviet mad science vibes. And in the same way that the world first grappled with the logic behind the USSR’s Ekranoplans, the new vessel will take time to make sense of. At present there are still many more questions than answers for this unique vessel. It is a healthy reminder that Chinese naval programs are under no obligation to make sense to us.

I first reported the new trimaran vessel, which mixes surface and sub-surface features, in Naval News last month. At the time the vessel was hidden under tarpaulins in a shipyard. And despite thousands of people walking past, there were no public images of the beast. Now a new photo has emerged showing the ship without tarps, and from a different angle. Many of the features and characteristics identified in the first pass are proven correct, some corrected, and new details added.

The vessel has some confusing features. It is around 65 meters (213 ft) long and 3-4 meters (9-13 ft) across the main hull. The outriggers, mounts well aft, are about 13 meters (43 ft) across. The black hull, unusual for a surface vessel, appears to be covered in an anechoic coating like a submarine. This is why the hull is not as smooth as we might otherwise expect. Two showed screws (propellers) or pump jets are visible behind the outriggers, but it is unclear how they are driven. Or whether they are the primary or secondary propulsion.

The vessel is clearly designed for submerged or semi-submerged operations yet is equally clearly intended to principally sail on the surface. The submarine-like rounded upper bow is matched by a boat-like cutting underside.

New Trimaran Semi-Sub

The jury is still out, in my mind at least, whether it is uncrewed or not. If so, like most large USVs it is technically optionally crewed. A small surface bridge is present atop the sail ahead of the fixed snorkel inlet. Indeed it is unclear what the main purpose of the sail (fin) is. The snorkel only takes up a small fraction of it and there are no large antennas to mount. Furthermore the vessel seems to have limited sensors overall, as you might expect for a craft operating at any speed above the wave base. There does appear to be an antenna above the bow where intercept sonar or underwater telephones might normally be mounted. Beyond that there are no clear sensor arrays visible.

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