re: PLAN Type 052 Class Destroyer
In terms of raw power and individual missile success rate, the sunburn is almost certainly significantly superior. What the YJ62s of the 052C pack is far superior range, and is likely to be significantly cheaper, with a sea skimming flight profile that minimizes reaction time for the enemy whereas the sunburns fly a great deal higher.
The PLAN did indeed by the Sovs as 'carrier kills', but the scenario for which they were purchased - USN carriers sailing brazenly through the Taiwan Strait, no longer exists.
The Sovs are a bit of a one trick pony, but with the short range of the sunburns, it's really hard to imagining they having any chance of getting close enough to an enemy carrier to have a pop.
The PLAN's anti-carrier tactics and strategy has since developed into reliance on massed saturation attacks launched from land based fighters (JH7As and MK2s), bombers (improved H6s) and FACs (Type 022s).
The ships also seem to be plagued with aged systems and reliability issues which has seen the Sovs pretty much permanently tied up at port and only dragged out for the odd high profile event or exercise. It is telling that pretty much every modern PLAN destroyer type has taken part in anti-piracy patrols except the Sovs.
If armed conflict breaks out, the Sovs will probably only be called up to provide escort duties for PLAN task groups with their Shlit/Buk missiles and to add an extra helo to ASW operations.
Officially, it will also serve an anti-surface role, but it would be hard to seeing much being able to get past the C802s (which also have many times the range of the Sunburns) that the rest of the PLAN fleet will be packing for the Sovs, or indeed needing to get close enough to the PLAN fleet to give them any chance to fire off any of their sunburns.
The Sovs have become a massive white elephant project for the PLAN, and there is no way they will want to buy more of them. Hell, the PLAN will probably snap your hand off if you offered them a good price to buy their existing Sovs off them.
Regarding the 052Cs, well yes, they are the current best of the line ships the PLAN has, and they are in batch production, with 2 of the current batch of 4 in the water.
These will not be produced in the numbers close to the 054As, but it remains to be seen if the PLAN will order more batches of 052Cs or move on to their next generation DDG design, whatever that may be.
