At this stage, the Chinese Navy has entered a new height in the development of frigates. In recent years, in addition to vigorously developing Type 052D destroyers, Type 055 destroyers, Type 075 amphibious assault ships, Type 076 amphibious assault ships, Type 071 dock landing ships, Type 901 integrated supply ships, aircraft carriers and other special operations ships. The Chinese Navy has developed frigates particularly rapidly, and has established a powerful echelon of frigates, which have become the main combat ships at sea in the new era of the Chinese Navy. So at the moment, what is the level of the Chinese Navy in the world in the development of frigates? What is the far-reaching impact on the Chinese Navy?
For the time being, the Chinese Navy is firmly in the first place in the world in terms of the scale of development of frigates, surpassing any country in the world today. Its frigates are roughly composed of 4 types, namely Type 054, Type 054A, Type 054B and Type 056A. Among them, only two Type 054 ships were built, and mass production was not realized, and the construction of this type of ship was mainly for the construction of Type 054A frigates to make preliminary preparations, and to test the feasibility and reliability of weapons and equipment and hull design. The Type 054A frigate is the largest number of frigates ever built by the Chinese Navy, and a total of 40 frigates of this type have been commissioned today, with the first ship commissioned on January 3, 2008, and the No. 40 ship commissioned in November 2023, and there are currently satellite images showing that the suspected new batch of Type 054A frigates is already under construction, and at least 10 more are expected to be built.
Type 054A frigate
The biggest difference between the Type 054A frigate and the Type 054 frigate is the weapon, the Type 054A frigate is equipped with a vertical launch system of 32 units, while the Type 054 does not have a vertical launch system, and the air defense weapons are mainly based on the Haihongqi 7 short-range point defense anti-aircraft missile, and the maximum range of the type of air defense missile is only about 10 kilometers, so that the Type 054 frigate does not have the ability to perform regional air defense operations. It cannot be compared with the Type 16A frigates with Hongqi Type 054 medium-range anti-aircraft missiles, which have lower combat capabilities. After modernization and upgrading in 2020, the original Hongqi-7 anti-aircraft missiles were dismantled, and 1 and 24 Haihongqi-10 anti-aircraft missiles were installed, but the problem of insufficient air defense capabilities could still not be solved.
Type 054 frigate
After the Type 054A frigate, the Chinese Navy has developed a new generation of Type 054B frigates, which is already the third generation of Type 054 frigates. First of all, the tonnage has been increased, the full load displacement of the Type 054A frigate is about 4,000 tons, and the full load displacement of the Type 054B has been increased to 6,000 tons, the length of the hull is about 147 meters, which is about 13 meters longer than the Type 054A, and the width has also increased by 2 meters. The larger hull enhances the ocean-going combat capability of the Type 054B frigate, improves the capacity of the ship's weapons, and more importantly, the larger size of the Type 054B frigate will be able to carry the Z-20F anti-submarine helicopter for combat in the future, greatly improving its anti-submarine combat capability.
Type 054B frigate
In addition, the Type 054B frigate adopts the overall design of an integrated mast, and various radars and antennas on the main mast have achieved a highly integrated design, which greatly improves the stealth capability of the hull. The double-sided roof radar carried by its Type 054A frigate has also been replaced with a double-sided phased array radar system, which has greatly improved its anti-jamming ability and detection capability. However, in terms of armament, the Type 054B frigate has not been significantly upgraded, and it is still equipped with a 32-unit vertical launch system, which is consistent with the Type 054A frigate, and the non-rumored Type 054B frigate may be equipped with a universal vertical launch system on the 052D, and the launch unit will be reduced to 48 units.
Type 054B frigate
The most obvious change in the armament of the Type 054B frigate is the upgrade of the main gun, the Type 054A frigate is equipped with a 76 mm naval gun, and the Type 054B frigate is equipped with a 100 mm naval gun. Therefore, on the whole, compared with the Type 054A frigate, in addition to the larger hull and the upgrade of the radar system and communication system, the other shipboard weapons are basically the same. For this reason, many people still think that such a large hull has the same set of shipboard weapons as the Type 054A frigate, which seems to be overkill. Of course, there are also many people who believe that the Type 054B frigate is likely to be built in large quantities, just like the Type 054 frigate, to make preliminary preparations for the subsequent construction of more advanced ships. At present, a total of 2 Type 054B frigates have been launched, one is in sea trials and one is in outfitting.
In addition to the 054 type, 054A and 054B type three ocean-going frigates, the Chinese Navy also has a large 056A type frigate group, this type of frigate is an improved version of the 056 type, a total of 22 ships were built before and after the 056 type, due to the lack of anti-submarine capabilities, plus the needs of the navy guard, only less than 10 years of service before the full decommissioning, handed over to the coast guard for use. A total of 50 Type 056A frigates have been built so far, and compared with Type 056 frigates, the overall design and layout of Type 056A frigates are basically the same. The biggest difference is that there is a huge equipment drop hatch at the stern of the ship, which can carry high-end anti-submarine equipment such as towed sonar, which strengthens the anti-submarine capability and enhances the anti-submarine combat capability of the Chinese Navy. It is considered to be a good hand of the Chinese Navy's caretaker, and can build a powerful anti-submarine network together with Type 054A and anti-submarine patrol aircraft to ensure underwater safety in China's coastal waters.
In terms of scale, the number of frigates of more than 1,000 tons in the Chinese Navy has reached 94, ranking first in the world in the world. Since the US Navy retired the "Perry"-class frigates, there are no frigates in the naval sequence today, and there are only about 30 "littoral combat ships," and the new generation of "Constellation"-class frigates is still under construction. Let's take a look at the size of frigates of other countries. At this stage, the Russian Navy has a total of 24 frigates of more than 1,000 tons, some of which were built during the Soviet era. Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force has 34 ships, some of which were built in the 90s, the latest of which are Mogami-class frigates. The Indian Navy has 14 1,000-ton frigates. The British Navy has 20 ships.
A new generation of Constellation-class frigates of the US Navy
Therefore, judging from the overall size of frigates, the Chinese Navy is the first in the world today, and the ships are relatively new. The appearance of these ships has fundamentally improved the overall combat capability of the Chinese Navy, as well as the anti-submarine warfare capability, and at the same time alleviated the shortage of destroyers to a certain extent. In particular, in anti-submarine warfare, China has long faced underwater threats, and the construction of a large number of frigates can improve the anti-submarine warfare capability of the Chinese Navy, freeing up destroyers to deal with high-sea targets and large ships.
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(Written by the periscope on July 1, 2024, please do not reprint without authorization, plagiarism must be investigated!) ）