[11][12] They were initially armed with 12 JL-2 SLBMs;[1] each missile had one warhead[13] and a 7,200 km (4,500 mi) range capable of reaching parts of Alaska launched from near China.

By late 2022, they were rearmed with JL-3 SLBMs able to reach the continental United States from the South China Sea; ranges of over 10,000 km (6,200 mi) have been reported.

In 2004,[16] a Chinese researcher reported that the Type 094 had an acoustic signature of 120 decibels, comparable to the Los Angeles-class submarine.

[17] In 2009, the Office of Naval Intelligence of the United States Navy listed the Type 094 as noisier than Soviet/Russian SSBNs from the late 1970s.

[18][19] In 2015, Australian researchers Brendan Thomas-Noone and Rorey Medcalf noted that noisiness and the range of the JL-2 limited the submarine's effectiveness in attacks on the contiguous United States, but not on India.