052C/052D Class Destroyers
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
Well, everything before 052C are definitely going away. They were just quick iterations until China got a ship with a modern CIC. They should look for friendly countries where they can donate them. At this point, I don't even know how long the 052C will stick around. The first two were launched 20 years ago. Maybe they retire them by 2030.
it's a bit early for their retirement unless there's something wrong with them.
They still have a ~decade or so of designed lifespan in them, within which they probably won't be too bothersome from the maintenance point of view. MLUed units especially so.
It would've be different if China wasn't expanding its navy, but expanding its navy it does. Combat-relevant hulls don't smell.
Indeed that is the case. However, the premise of my question is when PLAN had expanded to its desired level (having 052DL/055 on all fleet lineup), yet the older DDGs still have some potential life in them, though not much.
Do the PLAN/Chinese gov just gift/bargain sale them to friendly countries or start sending them to a newly founded naval reserve instead? it's in the context of currently heightened tension that might stay into the foreseeable future.
I don't think so. Not every USN idea is a good one for you to emulate.
1. Takes up valuable port space.
2. Costs money to maintain.
3. The older the ship, the higher the costs of maintenance.
4. Older ships do not share the same parts as the newer ships, complicating your logistics and maintenance.
5. They are not as comfortable for your officers and sailors.
6. Poor bang for the buck.
7. The older they get, the greater they pose as a hazard to your crew.
Some of the ships might end up as training ships or museum ships. Due to the issues involved, I don't think they will be given away to allies either.
Mechanically there is nothing wrong with them assuming proper and diligent maintenance. What's wrong is the very idea of it. You are operating destroyer sized crews for frigate level abilities. They could be operating crews double of that of a 054A, but your capabilities are not much better except in the antiship role, while being inferior in the antisubmarine role (051B, 052B, Sov). Steam operation is more touchy to maintain and is more dangerous than diesels. Navies have prematurely retired ships before.
They will still operate until the time comes and they won't no longer.
They will figure something out to replace the DA80s with GT25000s. I think the first two still has the Ukrainian turbines but the other four has the domestic turbines.
I think the 052C are built with future upgradability in mind, more than previous ships before it. Ultimately this is going to be decided by both the bean counters and the engineers working out the tiny details.
I could see it happening maybe for 052B but not the other classes. They're way too finicky and unique in terms of propulsion/electronics/weapons. Many of those early chinese sensors are not well integrated. By the time the foreign navy learns how to properly use them they'll be nearing the end of their life.
Though of course, they could simply strip away everything and turn it into an OPV
Other than that, I could also see 052C getting an early retirement and transfer to Pakistan Navy
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Lethe
Captain
Such hyper-optimization for efficiency is typically the mark of a mature, stagnant, or declining power, as with mass retirements of older vessels in the United States and Europe at the end of the Cold War. Funds suddenly got tight, so they had to be spent more efficiently, which led to the mass disposal of still very credible vessels such as Type 22 and Spruance.
I have long been followed the retirement patterns of PLAN's older vessels precisely because this points to the bigger picture of what is going on. With a steady influx of new, modern vessels into the fleet, retaining obsolete vessels such as 053H1, 051 to serve out >30 year lifespans can reasonably be questioned and makes sense only within a basically expansionist framework. Conversely, if PLAN now becomes focused on making more efficient use of personnel by retiring still-useful vessels early, it suggests that expansionist era is drawing to a close.
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