On May Day, the People's Liberation Army presented a "big gift" to the people of the whole country, but the eyes of military fans focused on the 40-year-old "aircraft carrier escort" next to the Fujian ship. The special arrangements of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) for sea trials of aircraft carriers have obviously also attracted the attention of the Taiwan authorities and the Biden administration.
1. Special arrangements for PLA's sea trials
As the eyes of the whole country are focused on the Chinese Navy, the Chinese Navy has also lived up to the expectations of the people and immediately put the Fujian ship sea trials on the agenda.
The arrival of sea trials means that the Fujian ship is about to face complex and real sea conditions, and at this critical moment, the ships serving as escorts have become extremely important.
As for the choice of frigates, the vast majority of people are undisputed that they are some advanced destroyers, such as the 0.55 million ton drive and the 052D Aegis destroyer.
(Fujian ship sea trials, frigates become the focus)
However, in the photos of the sea trials of the Fujian ship, an old friend who has known the majority of military fans for many years appeared - the Hyundai-class destroyer Hangzhou.
This undoubtedly made thousands of military fans dumbfounded, and they all said that they could not imagine that this old model of Russian-made destroyer would take on this heavy responsibility.
The Hangzhou is not only a Russian-made destroyer, but also the first modern-class destroyer introduced by China.
At that time, the introduction of the Hangzhou was of great significance to the Chinese Navy, which largely made up for the shortcomings of China's weak maritime power.
And it was equipped with weapons and equipment similar to the modern class used by the Russian Navy, which also greatly improved the PLA's maritime strike capability at that time.
But today, the military strength of the Hangzhou is clearly not comparable to the existing advanced destroyers in China.
So why did the PLA choose a modern destroyer that has been in service for decades to protect the Fujian for sea trials?
Of course, we should not be too surprised, such a special arrangement of the PLA obviously has its own reasons.
On the one hand, tensions in the South China Sea are increasing. The Philippines has made frequent small moves at the instigation of the United States, and now it is holding joint military exercises against China, although the Chinese side has called the actions of the United States and the Philippines a "spiritual victory", but on the other hand, it also proves that the United States and the Philippines are ambitious.
On this basis, Australia has also carried out many provocations against China, obviously with the intention of taking sides with the United States.
On the other hand, the situation in the Taiwan Strait is at a critical juncture. Cross-strait relations have warmed up somewhat due to the frequent visits of high-level Kuomintang officials to the mainland, and Lai Ching-te is about to usher in his inaugural speech, which will undoubtedly affect the development of cross-strait relations.
Obviously, the international situation that China is facing today is not optimistic, which requires China to speed up its military development, especially in the improvement of its maritime capabilities.
(The grim international situation has accelerated China's military strength)
Second, the combat power of the Hangzhou ship has been greatly upgraded
Today, in order to rapidly enhance the development of armaments, the PLA is improving and optimizing its original armaments on the basis of them.
As for the transformation of the Hangzhou ship, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) also made a detailed analysis of the Hangzhou warship and decided to renovate it in two aspects, so that its combat effectiveness can be greatly improved, which obviously follows the PLA's consistent concept of developing armaments -- "spending money on the blade."
The first is the radar system of the Hangzhou ship.
When the previous Hangzhou ship was introduced, its Russian-style electronic system was not advanced, and after so many years, its radar system has long been outdated, and it is obviously unable to meet today's modern campaign.
In order to maximize the combat effectiveness of the Hangzhou ship, improving its radar system is obviously the most appropriate choice.
As a result, the PLA has made three improvements to its radar system:
First, a new 364 low-altitude blind radar was added.
Second, the original MR-750MA "top plate" three-coordinate air search radar will be upgraded to a Type 382 air search radar.
Third, the previous "music station" over-the-horizon sea search radar will be upgraded to a 366-type over-the-horizon sea search radar.
The second is the weapon system of the Hangzhou ship.
In order to make up for the shortcomings of the Hangzhou ship's insufficient air defense capability, the PLA not only added a 32-cell vertical launch system to the Hangzhou hull, but also installed the Hongqi-10 (HQ-10) short-range anti-aircraft missile and the Hongqi-16 (HQ-16) long-range anti-aircraft missile.
Even in order to maximize the strike capability of the Hangzhou ship, it upgraded its original 3M80 anti-ship missiles to 8 YJ-12 heavy supersonic anti-ship missiles.
The Hangzhou ship, which has undergone two major transformations, is now also regaining its vigor, and is even likely to be comparable to the new ships produced by many countries in recent years.
(The remodeled Hangzhou ship has greatly improved its combat effectiveness)
Of course, compared with the Type 055 destroyer and the Type 052D destroyer, the renovated Hangzhou ship is obviously not enough.
Therefore, it is very likely that the Hangzhou ship is only responsible for the escort work of the Fujian ship during the sea trial, and once the Fujian ship is officially put into service, the position of its escort ship is likely to be occupied by advanced destroyers such as Type 055 destroyers.
3. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) releases special signals
Since the launch of the Fujian, the Taiwan authorities have been very concerned about the latest trends in the development of the PLA's armaments, especially the new progress of the Fujian.
Previously, Taiwan media had exposed changes on the deck of the Fujian ship, and some carrier-based aircraft models could still be seen in the exposed photos.
Now that the Fujian has entered sea trials, it is obvious that the changes in its escort ships cannot escape the eyes of the Taiwan authorities, and Zhang Yanting, a retired general from Taiwan, also said about the new changes in the Hangzhou warship that the PLA's improvements will make the Hangzhou warship more powerful.
This undoubtedly represents its affirmation of the results of the PLA's improvement of old weapons.
And the PLA's rise in strength has clearly put pressure on Lai and the Biden administration.
Now, on the eve of Lai Qingde's inaugural speech on 20 May, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has put the Fujian ship into sea trials and also unveiled the renovated Hangzhou ship, which is obviously "knocking" Lai Qingde, hoping that after he takes office, he will make the right choice on cross-strait relations and not follow the old path of Tsai Ing-wen.
(The special arrangement of the People's Liberation Army, on the one hand, is to beat Lai Qingde)
And the PLA's special arrangement this time is also a warning to the Biden administration, asking it to recognize the current situation and not blindly disregard the safety of other regions in order to contain China.
Obviously, the mainland has long seen Biden's true colors, that is, under the banner of "aid", let the recipient areas stand on the "front line" of containing China and become pawns in maintaining its hegemonic status.