China Maps Ocean Floor for Submarine Warfare with US, Allies

• China is conducting extensive undersea mapping and monitoring across Pacific, Indian, and Arctic oceans, crucial for submarine warfare.
• Research vessel Dong Fang Hong 3 surveyed strategic areas near Taiwan, Guam, and the Indian Ocean, deploying sensors and mapping deep-sea terrain.
• This operation involves dozens of research vessels and hundreds of sensors, providing data for both civilian and military purposes, including optimizing submarine deployment.
• The mapping efforts focus on militarily important waters around the Philippines, Guam, Hawaii, and critical chokepoints like the Malacca Strait.
• Experts warn China's 'civil-military fusion' approach and 'transparent ocean' project threaten to erode the US's asymmetric advantage in ocean battlespace knowledge.