antiterror13
Brigadier
I think light frigate ~4000 tons or corvette ~2000 tons would be needed for FIC, cheaper and easier to operate and good enough for FIC
052C/052D Class Destroyers
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
I think light frigate ~4000 tons or corvette ~2000 tons would be needed for FIC, cheaper and easier to operate and good enough for FIC
Wrong radar on the top for DG.
The official definition for 055 is large destroyer, which means it is still a destroyer and uses the name pool from the cities. The tactical use of 055 and 052D makes no difference, 052D is capable to launch YJ21 ASBM too.
One candidate development for a cruiser is to integrate giga-size VLS so that larger missiles can be onboard, e.g. DF17 DF26 DF100 etc. This is something current 055 052D cannot do.
So my bet of PLAN's future blue water navy structure is -
6000t FFG, namepool from small cities (Hangzhou, Kunming, Qinzhou...)
13000t DDG, namepool from large cities (Shenyang, Guangzhou, Nanjing...)
20000t CG, namepool from provincial-level cities (Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing...)
And of course there will be CV/UAV-CV for reconnaissance and air-superiority.
There will be no room for a 9000t 052DX.
If that were the case, couldn't they just upsize 055 to ~15000 tons instead, in which case there'd be room for a 8-9000ton destroyer
To me it doesn't feel likely that they'd have a clean sheet design and build a 20000 ton ship anytime soon, even 15-20 years down the line
To avoid derailing this thread, I believe we should continue this discussion in the Next Generation Destroyer thread (after 052D, 055) instead.
052D has been maxed out upgrades. There's no more room for anything.
Logical if you are going to introduce her successor, you need a bigger vessel. A bigger vessels with more VLS to fill in for the mid-tier. And there's a chance the next FFG which is not 054B will possible incorporate 48-60 VLS, which will be encroaching 052D area.
PLAN doesn't have a mid-tier vessel; something in the range of 80-90 VLS.
- 055 is a higher tier. You can't build many because they take time to build and you don't want to stack all your VLS on a single platform in case you lose one. Can operate alone in high seas or lead a squadron to high sea operations.
- No mid tier.
- 052D is a small. You can build a lot, but they ran risk of running out in a saturation. Too small to operate alone for waters beyond coast/regional.
- 054A/B is a lower tier. You can build many. They will ran out in a saturation but that's fine because they serve as last line of defense. Not meant to operate alone in high seas.
You need mid tier so your higher-tiers are not too focus to fill in for the limited amount of cells being carried by the small-tier 052Ds.
And you have limited amount of higher-tiers to begin with so can't use them freely for other things. 055s can't focus on being offensive as well.
You need mid-tiers to reduce work load for the limited higher-tiers. They can go on high-sea missions without the limitations of the small tiers; can operate alone in high-seas like a higher-tier.
In the end, if China is not going to replace the 052D with a mid-tier vessel then they better start churning out more higher-tier 055s.
US is in the reverse problem where her Navy has been reduced to all high and mid tiers vessels (Tico, Burkes, Zumwalt) and they have no small and lower tiers.
A blue-water Navy needs all 4 categories to maximize efficiency and not overwork and over-stretch its vessels and forces.
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Lethe
Captain
There may well be a case for a larger type to succeed 052D with better endurance, growth margins, habitability standards, etc. but the notion that 052D is not already an upper mid-tier vessel is rather dubious. No Navy has a second-tier vessel with armament or sensor suite superior to 052D.
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Of course 052D is a second tier. 055 is the top tier. But then again, no other navy has 055 equivalent.
I think 055 is the elite escort, or destroyer leader type of vessel. 052D represent the role of efficient high intensity combatant. The alternative would be to make 055 the standard destroyer, which we are not seeing right now.
This kind of set up is similar to Japanese destroyers, with Asahi class and Maya class. One in the 5000 ton range, one in the 8000 ton range. Not exactly the same role, but you get the point. You can have an economical destroyer and a larger more elite type of same generation. In case of China, both types are bigger than Japanese, because they actually need to fight superpowers on their own instead of supporting a foriegn fleet. Therefore they carry more comprehensive set of capability, rather than to specialize narrower set of roles and let USN fill the rest.
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Speaking of which, looking at the current trend of how the PLAN is procuring surface combatants - They can be categorized into three separate tiers:
1. High-Tier, which would be the 055 DDGs. Large destroyers, or could even be considered as CGs per the US/NATO classification (i.e. with flag facilities). Given the new age of the class in-question, a successor class DDG (if not CG) is not as urgently needed (albeit there are claims that the PLAN is still unsatisfied with the 055).
2. Mid-Tier, which would be the 052D/DG DDGs. General-purpose destroyers, meant to complement and support the 055s in area-wide anti-air and anti-ship warfares, alongside escorting and protecting larger capital ships of the PLAN (namely CVs and LHDs). With the first 052D reaching 20 years of age by the mid-2030s, work on a successor-class DDG is now underway.
3. Low-Tier, which would be the 054A/AG FFGs. General-purpose frigates meant to be the main anti-submarine and the do-everyday-mundane-job component of the fleet. With the first 054A nearing 20 years old within the next couple years, we have already seen what could've been either the successor-class FFG itself, or merely a technology verification platform before yet another serial-production class of FFGs to succeed them (i.e. 054C/05X-class).
Of course, with recent additional orders for at least 10 more 054AG FFGs, there are suggestions by the likes of @水雷屋 and others that the 054A/AG FFGs would instead be relegated to close-to-home duties (i.e. within and around 1IC) and form a high-low mix with the 056A (or its successor-class) FFLs, given the increasingly challenging geopolitical and security developments within and around the 1IC (namely the SCS and around the Ryukyu Islands) that the 056A FFLs alone are no longer deemed capable of dealing with the threats involved.
Hence, we might actually see 054AGs and 054Bs (or Cs) being simultaneously procured by the PLAN in the coming years.
That is, the PLAN could in fact be operating four tiers of major surface combatants in the near future.
055 is great against warship vs warship. but
In the modern warfare, they need a warship that can deal with hundreds of drones and UUV at once. Perhaps a warship with multiple laser system and CIWS.
A single warship that can destroy swarm satellite, water drones and air drones..
In the modern warfare, they need a warship that can deal with hundreds of drones and UUV at once. Perhaps a warship with multiple laser system and CIWS.
A single warship that can destroy swarm satellite, water drones and air drones..