lcloo
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054/A FFG Thread II
- Thread starter tphuang
- Start date
054A FFG-516 Huaibei at anchor. Posted by @xx笑而不语xx on Weibo.
Two 054A FFGs of the latest batch moored at the distance, with pennant numbers likely to be #543 and #580. Posted by @笑里Cang刀 on Weibo.
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Do we know the size of the latest (sixth) batch? Wikipedia says 10, for a total of 50, but only 6 have been observed so far. With the 100mm gun and the ability to carry the Z-20F it's quite different to previous batches.
The fifth batch is often listed as having an extended helicopter deck as well, but I measured on satellite images and it doesn't seem longer and given that the entire hangar area was redesigned for the sixth batch it probably can't carry the Z-20F.
No solid idea about the number. It has been alleged that all 10 units of the latest batch have already been launched, but we've lost track on the count for quite a while. I don't think we'll have any concrete numbers for the time being.
Perhaps you're measuring 054A FFGs of the previous batches? The new batch 054A FFGs are longer than the preceeding batches by about 2-3 meters astern.
Kamov-28 -> Z-9C/D -> Z-20F.
Speaking of the Z-20F, when are we going to see its proliferation among PLAN surface combatants at scale? Pretty sure it has been in service for some time now. It seems as if the few known sightings are from mainly Type 075 LHDs, but not seen at all en masse among Type 055/052D DDGs and soon the newer Type 054AGs.
That's the problem, for some reason. We rarely see Z-20 helicopters on destroyers or LHD ships. They're still dependent on the Z-9.
Yes, its quite strange. I don't know exactly when the Z-20F entered service, but there are in-service airframes. There's this image of one seemingly leaving an 055 from I don't know when, but its clearly a prototype given the plain black serial rather than the official low-vis insignia. One also does not know if this airframe came from another ship, or was already initially embarked on the 055 for whatever testing/training it was doing. It'll obviously take time to proliferate them among the growing fleet, but one would think we'd have more exposure/deployments of them on surface combatants already.
