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With the advent of cheap, commercially available satellites images through Google Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth, anyone can play the military-intelligence game. An analyst with the Federation of American Scientists discovered a pair of Chinese Jin-class submarines in clear view of passing satellites. Only one Jin-class sub was known of publicly before, when the same analyst spotted it in July. It's not known if the one of the subs in this shot is the same one seen before, but U.S. intelligence reports claim that China is building up to 5 of the Jin-class.

China doesn't seem to have gone any trouble to hide these from passing satellites. It's unlikely that American spy birds weren't aware of these some time ago. However, spotting interesting military hardware and facilities on Google Maps is a common activity for military junkies. We have other uses for Google's ever-present cameras, though — like the spy shot of Steve Jobs' license-plateless Mercedes in his driveway.