052C/052D Class Destroyers

ACuriousPLAFan said:

A ship badge which belongs to one of the 4th batch 052DG DDGs, with the pennant #126 and named after the city of Heze. Posted by 太湖XXX.

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This is the first time I've seen the name of this city. I am sure this is also true to most of us.

Heze city is in Shandong province, with population of 8.8 million people. It has long history from New Stone Age, Xia, Zhou, Shang dynasty till today. GDP of this city is USD 61 Billion in 2023.

ACuriousPLAFan said:

The 2nd 052D/DG DDG of the 4th batch with the pennant #166 to enter service soon, said to be named after the city of Huainan. Posted by @lyman2003 on Weibo.

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052DG DDG #166 Huainan moored at pier. Posted by @xx笑而不语xx on Weibo.

Can earlier type of 052D be upgraded to DL ? Other than longer length and new surface search and new VHF radars, I'm curious if 052DL have more fundamental differences to earlier 052D.

I expect that when the time for MLU of the type 052D lead ship is due, the consideration for accommodation for Z20 will be very much weighted. Z20's advantage of range and payload vs Z9 is simply too large. So hangar size and heli-deck length will change.

The rest will depend on new advances made in sensors and weapons, we can take hints from latest batch of type 052D(X?) when they completed their out-fitting.