China is building the second largest destroyer after Zamvolta
The laying of a promising destroyer (missile cruiser) Type 055, along with the adoption of the aircraft carrier "Liaoning" was another sinister event, confirmed the ambitions of China as a contender for the great maritime power.
The PLA Navy intends to push its defensive perimeter from the coastal zone to the open sea. The conduct of hostilities in open sea areas requires the presence of new ships, whose weapons and capabilities allow you to operate without support from the coast.
In contrast to the PLA’s naval ships that were under construction, whose sizes corresponded to the patrol ship (frigate) class, and the armament was limited to primitive rocket systems and self-defense air defense, the new combat units of the Chinese fleet threaten to become one of the largest destroyers in the world. With the most advanced airspace controls. and long-range anti-aircraft missile systems providing air defense / missile defense for maritime theaters of war.
Among the voiced characteristics of the new destroyers:
- 128 vertical rocket mines, equivalent to the American Muk.41 DSS (two 64 charging units). As on American ships, the cells will be used to store and launch a wide range of weapons, including long-range HHQ-9B anti-aircraft missiles (similar to the C-300 SAM), medium-range HHQ-16 (analogous to the Buk air defense missile system) and a short-range DC- 10 (four missiles in each cell), HQ-26 over-the-atmosphere interceptors (similar to SM-3), as well as CJ-10 long-range cruise missiles, YJ-100 and YJ-18 anti-ship missiles (the latter with detachable supersonic warheads) and anti-submarine missile torpedo CY-5;
- universal artillery installation. Initially, it was announced about the long-range system caliber 155 mm, with its subsequent replacement of the rail electromagnetic gun. The reality turned out to be less interesting: at the moment, the most likely option is to equip the destroyer with a new H / PJ-38 naval gun of the 130 caliber mm;
- self-defense systems, including automatic 11-barreled anti-aircraft guns Type 1130 (11 000 firing rate / min) and 24-charging units of the missile with thermal guidance on a rotary pad (the conceptual analogue of RIM-116);
- landing pad and hangar for two anti-submarine helicopters.
The displacement of the new cruiser / destroyer is estimated at 12 — 13 thousand tons, which makes it the second largest surface missile-artillery ship after the American Zamvolt.
Destroyer section of the destroyer Type 055, shipyard Jiangnan-Changxing, December 2014. It is assumed that the new ship will be launched in 2017, and put into operation in 2019.
Official Chinese sources claim that the first eight destroyers of the Type 055 will be equipped with a conventional GEM consisting of four gas turbines QC-280 (a copy of the American General Electric LM2500). Destroyers of the next sub-series will receive a nuclear power plant, which will provide them with unlimited navigation range.
The English-speaking experts are skeptical of this statement: the previous operating experience of surface combatants from YASU confirmed the excessive cost of their operation, which was not compensated by any real advantages (the autonomy of the ship was not limited to fuel). As a result, the US Navy wrote off their last nuclear cruiser twenty years ago. The Russian Navy is exploiting a couple of the remaining Orlans, due to the lack of any real alternative. That's all. For today in the world there are no projects of non-avinos naval warships with YSU.
Due to the lack of official images Type 055, the main intrigue remains the architectural appearance of the Chinese destroyer. Will it be based on the concept of the American “Zamvolta” or will the Chinese shipbuilders follow a more familiar path, continuing the further evolution of the “berco-shaped” destroyers?
Early image Type 055
It so happened that all modern destroyers (American “Arly Burke”, British “Daring”, Japanese “Atago” and “Akizuki”, Indian “Kolkata”) are, first of all, specialized air defense ships. Which, of course, does not negate their reasonable universality.
This is facilitated by two reasons:
1. The main threat in modern naval combat is the means of air attack.
2. To accommodate advanced detection equipment onboard, to ensure an adequate height for the installation of antenna posts and to have sufficient ammunition for long-range anti-aircraft missiles, a large ocean-going warship with a displacement of at least 7-8 thousand tons is required. Given the need to ensure versatility, good seaworthiness and high autonomy, the displacement of modern destroyers often reaches 10 and more than thousands of tons.
Actually, long-range SAMs and zonal air defense / missile defense systems are the main reason for the existence of destroyers (cruisers) in our time. All the other strike and defensive weapons (self-defense missile systems, PKR, PLUR, and self-defense systems) require an order of magnitude smaller volumes to be placed on board, so they can be successfully installed on more modest platforms (corvettes, frigates, LCS and even IAC) or on submarines .
Developing the subject of an air defense destroyer, the most effective is a scheme with two radar stations of different ranges:
- Radar centimeter range (foreign designation - X-band), which allows to form a “sharp” beam to detect low-flying small-sized objects (anti-ship missiles). The purpose of the station is the timely detection of low-flying anti-ship missiles, as soon as they rise above the horizon. A very crucial moment - less than a minute is left before the PKR hits the target. Time to spare, it is important processor speed and high refresh rate. Therefore, the highest requirements are imposed on these radars;
- Survey radar decimeter range (S or L-band) to detect targets at large distances, up to low near-Earth orbits. Due to the fact that the decimeter radar detection range is higher with the same output power than the one operating in the centimeter range, because signal power loss increases with frequency.
Many questions about the Type 055 can be answered by its full-size model being built in Hubei. According to popular photographs, the layout of the Chinese destroyer is more consistent with the British “Derring”.
Estimated layout length exceeds 160 meters
In the background is visible mock aircraft carrier with a "springboard"
Antenna post radar tracking horizon (X), obviously, will be located at the top of the foremast - for maximum expansion of the radio horizon.
In the aft part of the destroyer it is planned to equip another antenna post for early warning radar (like the British S1850M).
Due to the technological advances of recent years, all Chinese destroyers (like the Navy self-defense destroyers of Japan, the US Navy, India and all European countries) will be equipped with active phased antenna radars (AFAR).
Multifunctional mast - with AFAR “plates” located on its external surface, receiving-transmitting antennas of communication systems and sensors for various purposes. It is assumed that 055 Type destroyers will be equipped with a similar stealth pyramid.
Technology AFAR allows you to expand the scope of the radar. In addition to detecting air and sea targets, such stations are able to duplicate the tasks of navigation radars, detect floating mines, perform tasks of electronic reconnaissance equipment and, most importantly, assume the duties of radar targeting anti-aircraft missiles. An array of thousands of receiving and transmitting modules, each of which is able to work separately from the others (in practice, anti-personnel mines are grouped into modules of several dozen pieces to amplify the signal) allows you to generate dozens of individual rays to “illuminate” the targets and control the anti-aircraft missiles launched. The ship has a real opportunity to repel massive air attacks.
Destroyers under construction of the previous type (Type 052D), which are reduced copies of the American "Burke", with the introduction of a number of new technologies (AFAR) and its own weapons. At the moment, the lead destroyer Kunming has entered service, three more ships are being completed afloat. Before 2020, the PLA Navy must be supplemented with 12 missile destroyers. Type 052D
PS It is curious that the PLA Navy budget is only twice the budget of the Russian Navy. Due to the inconsistency of the cost-benefit ratio, an amazing paradox arises, the solution of which can be two conclusions. First: the Chinese are using slave labor in shipyards. The second, more obvious: the real budget of the Chinese fleet is strictly classified, and its value is several times higher than the published data.
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