When the Chinese nuclear submarine program begun in the early 1960s, the design of torpedoes which would be used on the nuclear submarines was also started in conjunction. A research team was first formed in the winter of 1964 by the 705th Research Institute, and it was decided that priority should be given to acoustic homing ASW torpedo. China was able to indigenously provide two types of propulsion systems, electrical and steam, but electrical propulsion could not provide the speed required, so the steam propulsion was selected. However, the steam propulsion had its own problem: there were two types of steam propulsion engines, reciprocating engine and steam turbine engine. China only had experience with the reciprocating engine, but the mechanical motion generated loud noise which greatly reduced the effectiveness of the acoustic seeker of the torpedo. Since the steam turbine technology was monopolized by the west, Chinese researchers suggested the plan of torpedo approaching the target at high speed, and then reduce the speed to home in on the target at low speed. In 1964, the design was submitted to the National Defense Science and Technology Committee and named as Yu-3 torpedo, and after continued evaluation that lasted from April 1965 to October 1965, and approval was given, the permission to begin the production program was issued in March 1966. Two month later, in May 1966, the design was change on last time, when China successfully developed silver-zinc battery, which enabled the torpedo to seek out targets at high speed, since electrically powered torpedo produced much less noise. The final propulsion of the Yu-3 torpedo selected was thus silver-zinc battery. The chief designer of the Yu-3 torpedo was Mr. Dong Lin (董琳), with Mr. Yang Baosheng (杨保生) and Mr. Jiang Liangfang (江连方) as the deputy chief designers.