As we all know, when the mainland navy aircraft carrier battle group goes to sea to perform tasks, there are often 1~2 Type 054A frigates with them.
Although its maximum speed is only 27 knots, it is still far from the maximum speed of aircraft carriers and destroyers; However, this still does not hinder the fact that the Type 054A frigate is part of the aircraft carrier battle group!
On the other hand, the eleven carrier strike groups of the United States Navy, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and Ticonderoga-class cruisers, have no place for frigates at all.
The Type 054A frigate plays a very important role in the mainland's aircraft carrier battle group, and only after the new small-volume medium-range air defense missile is loaded with four bombs in one pit will the role of the Type 054A frigate be slowly diluted.
Let's start with the role of Type 054A frigates in aircraft carrier battle groups
The Type 055 10,000-ton destroyers and Type 052D destroyers escorting aircraft carriers are only equipped with long-range anti-aircraft missiles of the Haihongqi-9B type, and are not equipped with medium-range anti-aircraft missiles of the Haihongqi-16B type.
In other words, if there are only Type 055 and 052D destroyers in the aircraft carrier battle group, it will lead to a gap in medium-range air defense, and the entire carrier battle group will lack the necessary medium-range air defense capability.
Don't think that with long-range anti-aircraft missiles, you can ignore the role of medium-range anti-aircraft missiles, in fact, medium-range air defense is still indispensable.
Otherwise, today's air defense system will be divided into three layers: far, medium and near, and with a long-range air defense system, it does not mean that it can also assume the role of a medium-range air defense system.
The fundamental reason is that long-range anti-aircraft missiles and medium-range anti-aircraft missiles focus on different points.
Long-range anti-aircraft missiles pay more attention to range and speed, and the requirements for maneuverability are slightly slowed down, so many will use a smooth rod-shaped projectile, resulting in a large enough maximum maneuverable overload.
Just like the maximum maneuverable overload of the Haihongqi-9 anti-aircraft missile is only about 20g; However, the maximum maneuvering overload of the Aster-30 is 60g, and it still has an overload capacity of 15g at the end; The maximum maneuvering overload of the Standard-6 is around 40g.
Medium-range air defense missiles, on the other hand, pay more attention to maneuverability and do not care much about flight speed and range, and can have a large maneuverable overload.
Just like the maximum maneuvering overload of the Haihongqi-16B can reach 40g, the maneuvering overload of the Aster-15 can also reach 60g, and the maneuvering overload of the improved Sea Sparrow is up to 50g.
Therefore, compared with long-range anti-aircraft missiles, medium-range anti-aircraft missiles are more maneuverable and more efficient in intercepting highly maneuverable targets.
It can be seen that under the premise that the long-range anti-aircraft missiles possessed by United States and Europe are so mobile, more attention is paid to medium-range air defense capabilities.
Then, not to mention, the mainland navy, which only has Haihongqi-9B anti-aircraft missiles with a mobile overload of about 20g, is bound to attach great importance to medium-range air defense capabilities.
In order to make the aircraft carrier battle group have a strong medium-range air defense capability, at this stage, only one or two Type 054A frigates will be accompanied by them, and the Haihongqi-16B medium-range air defense missiles loaded with them will be used to assume the medium-range air defense of the fleet.
After all, the maneuverability of the Haihongqi-16B anti-aircraft missile is higher than that of the Haihongqi-9B, after all, it has a combination of gas rudder + side strip wing + tail.
On the other hand, the Haihongqi-9B long-range air defense missile only has a gas rudder + tail, and its maneuverability is naturally inferior to that of the Haihongqi-16B.
More importantly, Haihongqi-16B can also form a CEC combat capability with the Air Police-600 early warning aircraft to intercept over-the-horizon anti-ship cruise missiles.
However, the Haihongqi-9B long-range anti-aircraft missile should also have such a function, after all, its relay guidance system is "command guidance".
The general combat process is similar to that of the US Navy's CEC, in that the outpost provides precise location information about the target, which is then transmitted back to the ship.
Then the ship launched the Haihongqi-9B to fly to the target's location, and while flying, it received instructions from the ship to change the trajectory and make it go towards the target. This is still a little different from the Haihongqi-16B.
Although both the Haihongqi-16B and Haihongqi-9B have CEC combat capabilities, the Haihongqi-16B is more effective than the Haihongqi-9B when intercepting targets at about the medium range.
After all, the Haihongqi-16B has better maneuverability, and the end is still an active radar seeker, so the minimum launch height can be lowered to less than 10 meters, and the minimum range is only 1.5 kilometers.
On the other hand, the minimum range of the Haihongqi-9B is only 20 kilometers, and the minimum launch height is 10 meters, which is not very effective in intercepting anti-ship missiles flying at ultra-low altitudes and skimming the sea.
The Haihongqi-16B, on the other hand, can rely on its lower firing height and shorter range to be more effective in intercepting anti-ship missiles that are close at hand.
Therefore, the role of the Type 054A frigate in the aircraft carrier battle group is still irreplaceable in a short period of time, after all, there is an advanced medium-range anti-aircraft missile of the Haihongqi-16B type.
Personally, I believe that frigates will not disappear in the mainland's aircraft carrier battle groups, and in the end the position of 054A will be replaced by Type 054B frigates.
After all, the Type 054B frigate is stronger than the 054A in all aspects.
Since the maximum speed of the Type 054A frigate is only 27 knots, the speed of aircraft carriers and destroyers is much higher than it.
Therefore, when the aircraft carrier is flying carrier-based aircraft at full speed, or needs to reach the target sea area as soon as possible and also sail at full speed, the Type 054A frigate cannot keep up with the rhythm.
The speed of the Type 054B frigate is bound to exceed that of the 054A, and the aircraft carrier battle group will not be thrown out of the distance when it is sailing at full speed.
Of course, speed is only one aspect!
The anti-aircraft, anti-ship, and anti-submarine capabilities of Type 054B frigates are not comparable to Type 054A frigates; Moreover, its displacement is also as high as more than 5,000 tons, and the comfort when sailing in the ocean will be stronger.
Compared with the 054A and 054AG, the main radar and rapid response radar of the Type 054B frigate have achieved active phased array.
This is stronger than the performance of the Type 382 air-to-sea search radar of 054A and 054AG and the Type 364 rapid response radar, especially in the range of the radar, detection accuracy, multi-target detection capability, and anti-stealth capability.
In addition, the antenna area of the radar that provides relay guidance for Haihongqi-16B is also larger, which improves the detection range and multi-target attack capability.
In addition, the Type 054B frigate is equipped with a Haizhi-20 anti-submarine helicopter, instead of a Z-9C or Ka-28, and it also has a bulbous nose sonar with a larger volume, and the Type 054B frigate is undoubtedly stronger in anti-submarine capabilities.
Coupled with the YJ-12 anti-ship missile with supersonic flight capability, the Type 054B frigate will replace the 054A as the cutting-edge escort ship of the aircraft carrier battle group. (Image source network, invasion and deletion)