The so-called destroyer is a multi-purpose warship, which is mainly responsible for performing some offensive assault missions and anti-submarine escort missions.
In modern military operations, destroyers will also serve as the main body of patrol and vigilance tasks, and provide take-off and landing platforms for unmanned carrier-based aircraft.
The versatility of its use and its rich combat functions make the destroyer the most versatile warship among the modern naval vessels.
The importance of sea supremacy is self-evident in modern military concepts, which means that a wide range of destroyers will play a more important role in modern military operations.
Countries around the world also attach great importance to this, and have been promoting the research and development process of sea destroyers to enhance their specific applicability and functionality.
Now the national destroyer ranking for 2024 has also been released, and two destroyers from the Japanese side are on the list.
The South Korean side ranked second with destroyers, and China's ranking was extremely surprising.
1. Global Destroyer Rankings
Looking back at the history of the development of destroyers, it can be found that such multipurpose military ships appeared as early as the 70s of the 19th century.
At that time, the European powers had formed the concept of controlling the sea power, and in order to better obtain the sea power and shape their own powerful maritime military power, these European powers began to develop a major maritime weapon that had a profound impact on later generations, that is, the torpedo.
Of course, such a powerful weapon also needs a corresponding carrier, and the destroyer was developed for this.
In essence, a destroyer is a large torpedo ship.
On the eve of World War I, destroyers became the main force of torpedo attacks at sea, and gradually began to derive a variety of military uses in subsequent developments.
Nowadays, countries around the world are also attaching great importance to the improvement of military capabilities at sea, and are working hard to develop relevant manufacturing technologies for destroyers and performance standards that can be improved.
So what is the situation in various countries now?
Judging from the relevant rankings released this year, the top ten destroyers that can enter the top of the world belong to India, Australia, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea and China.
It is worth noting that the Horizon-class destroyers built by the combined forces of France and Italy, which have a deep industrial base in this field, are at the bottom of the ranking, while the Australian Hobart-class destroyers used for air defense are ranked ninth.
As for the latest missile destroyer in service on the Indian side, it is also very surprising that the Visakhapat Antarctic destroyer can be ranked eighth.
These destroyers were preceded by the Type 45 destroyer, which cost $200 million on the British side, and this destroyer ranked sixth in the world.
Compared with other destroyers, the displacement of this destroyer is not large, only 8500 tons,
However, the destroyer's power system is composed of a gas turbine and a diesel engine.
It is extremely functional and can carry a variety of defensive and offensive missiles, and is currently one of the most important main warships of the British Navy.
As for the United States, which has always been known as the number one scientific and technological power, the most advanced destroyer in the country is the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.
The destroyer is powered by a gas turbine propulsion system and is capable of reaching a maximum speed of more than 30 knots.
And this destroyer can carry several launchers of anti-ship missiles and close defense systems, and its firepower is extremely powerful, but its ranking is not satisfactory, only ranking third in the world.
2. Japan has two, and South Korea ranks second
On the top ten destroyers in the world this year, two countries that need to be mentioned in special mention are Japan and South Korea.
It is said that the maritime military strength of these two countries is still very strong, and the relevant technology is also extremely advanced.
On top of the top ten destroyers in the world, Japan has two destroyers on the list, namely the Kongo-class destroyer in 7th place and the Atago-class destroyer in 4th place.
First of all, let's talk about the Kongo-class destroyer, which is the strongest missile destroyer of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
Its power system is composed of a gas turbine and a Rolls-Royce gas turbine generator independently developed in Japan, with a maximum speed of more than 30 knots and a cruising capacity of 20 levels, which is indeed very powerful.
As for the weapon system, it is composed of 127 mm naval guns, a concentrated array close defense system and a torpedo device, which can be applied to a variety of maritime combat missions.
The most important thing is that this destroyer has excellent air defense and anti-submarine capabilities, which can play an extremely powerful defensive and auxiliary role in large maritime combat missions.
And the Atago-class destroyer, which is ranked fourth, has even more powerful performance.
The destroyer's propulsion system is significantly more advanced, and although it still can't exceed the fixed limit of 30 knots, its endurance has been greatly improved compared to the Kongo-class destroyer.
Of course, the Japanese side has also upgraded the weapon system of this destroyer, and unlike the Kongo-class destroyer, the firepower of this destroyer is significantly denser and more powerful, and its main weapons are equipped with similar anti-ship missile launchers and torpedo tubes.
The difference is that this destroyer is additionally equipped with 12 eight-mounted vertical launch systems. This destroyer is also the strongest destroyer in Japan at the moment.
What is extremely surprising is that the second place in the ranking of the world's top ten destroyers is the King Sejong-class destroyer from South Korea.
This destroyer is the largest guided missile destroyer in the East Asian navies, along with Japan's Atago-class destroyers, with a displacement of 10,290 tons.
Although the power system of this destroyer is exactly the same as that of the Atago-class destroyers on the Japanese side, the displacement of this destroyer is much larger than that of the Atago-class destroyers in Japan.
Being able to maintain the same maximum speed of 30 knots and endurance of 20 knots as the Atago-class destroyers on the Japanese side shows that the South Korean side has also upgraded the navigation capabilities of the ships accordingly.
Compared to other destroyers, this destroyer's weapon system is more powerful, with 128 vertical launch units, and can fire many types of anti-aircraft missiles.
In addition to the strong air defense force, the biggest difference with the Japanese Atago-class destroyers and the Kongo series is that this destroyer has powerful anti-ship and long-range ground strike capabilities, and is equipped with large high-multiples arrows and cruise missiles.
Japan itself is an island nation, and South Korea has an extremely large territorial waters.
These two countries attach great importance to their military strength at sea, and their most advanced ships in the country have also achieved good results in the global destroyer rankings.
What about China?
3. China's ranking is surprising
As we all know, our country started late in the field of large-scale machinery and equipment manufacturing, and the relevant technology was completely behind those developed countries before.
But it would be a big mistake to think this way, in fact, our country has always attached great importance to national defense security.
In the past few years of development, the mainland has also vigorously promoted the research and development and manufacture of destroyers at sea.
Now the performance of relevant technology and equipment in this field in our country has been significantly surpassed by those developed countries.
What is extremely surprising is that in the ranking of the world's top ten destroyers, China, like Japan, also has two destroyers on the list.
The first is the Type 052D destroyer, which is in 5th place.
This destroyer, manufactured by our country itself, is a type of missile destroyer equipped by the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, and has officially joined the combat sequence of the mainland navy as early as 2014.
The destroyer has a standard displacement of up to 7,500 tons and is powered by the CODAG propulsion system.
The maximum speed can reach the standard of 30 and the endurance is an astonishing 4,000 nautical miles.
Compared to other large destroyers, this destroyer's weapon system is not outstanding, which is probably the reason why this destroyer ranks fifth in the world.
However, this destroyer is also mostly used to carry out patrol and auxiliary maritime military tasks, if there is really a strong enemy to attack, then our country has a more powerful destroyer, that is, the Type 055 destroyer.
Among the top 10 destroyers in the world, this destroyer is at the top of the list.
Not only the strongest missile destroyer in China, but also the strongest destroyer in the entire world.
With an overall field of 183 meters and a displacement of up to 13 million tons when fully loaded, this destroyer is the largest missile destroyer in the entire world.
Even with such a large tonnage, this destroyer can still achieve a maximum speed of more than 30 knots, which shows the strength of its power system.
As for weapons, the destroyer is equipped with a large 130 mm naval gun, which is far superior in firepower and power to regional components developed by other countries.
In addition to this, this destroyer has 112 vertical launch cells, which can fire many different types of missiles.
epilogue
The list of the world's top ten destroyers has been released, and what is extremely surprising is that the destroyers developed by developed countries in Europe and the United States are all listed at the back of the list, and the ranking is not satisfactory.
The destroyers of India, Japan and South Korea are at the top of the list, and it seems that the world pattern in this field has changed significantly.
As for the two destroyers built by our country, they achieved the fifth and first results.
In just a few decades, the mainland has been able to build something from scratch and then surpass all developed countries, which is also very proud.
Moreover, our country's research and development of maritime military technology will not stop, and the mainland will continue to manufacture more powerful maritime weapons in the future to ensure the mainland's national defense and maritime security.
Resources:
The future is coming 2024.6.23 "2024 World's Top 10 Destroyer Rankings: Japan 2, South Korea 2nd, China Ranking Unexpectedly"
A little science and technology museum 2024-06-19"The ranking of the world's top ten destroyers is released! South Korea's 10,000-ton ships ranked second, and China's ranking was unexpected"