I can only speak for myself, when I say that I expected a 054B to look something like this, although without the back SMART-L esque radar and the same smoke stack as 054/A
I saw 054B as a ship with the same number of VLS cells as 054A, but the new "common" one instead, and changing up the mast to accommodate a scaled down version of 052C's SAPARS. Such an upgrade will not have been quite out of the question imo, but I feel like PLAN are realizing the 054 hull will not be big enough (or fast enough?) to keep up with future blue water fleets (CVBGs), and may not bother with a 4000+ ton frigate for their next generation, but rather a larger, 5000-6000 ton frigate like some of the euro "frigates" instead. If you're in the position to either spend money developing a variant from an existing hull with limited potential, or go to a clean sheet design ("059") which will come a little later and continue buying a few more of the reliable and currently quite capable 054A as stop gaps, the wiser decision imo would be the latter.
Although of course you are right, the later hulls of 054A will and should be visibly different inside, compared to earlier hulls.
Sorry, maybe I wasn't making myself very clear the first time round. What I was trying to ask was not precisely what everyone thinks the 054B will look like/feature, as you have given a very good description of the most popular expectation. What I was trying to ask was on what bases are people using to come up with the above expectations for what an 054B will be like?
To me, it just looks like someone took the new radar being tested on the test ship, and then added a UK Type45 style integrated sensor mast and added 'new universal VLS'.
I am just questioning how reasonable/realistic that expectation is, and suggesting that the 054B may not necessarily be such a radical modification on the 054A. In fact, if the main differences were internal, with new battle management, sonar and new universal VLS (I do not understand how people can expect to be able to tell if the VLS is the same by just looking at the covers. If you just looked at a medium resolution picture of the VLS cells of the 054A and a US MK41, would you really be able to tell which was which?), it would be very hard for us to differentiate between an 054A and 054B.
Personally, I think the modifications you suggested are too radical to be able to be easily integrated onto the 054A hull. It's like aircraft design, at some point, it is just easier to start with a clean slate instead of trying to re-make an existing design into something else.
The 054A is an extremely successful design, and fit's the PLAN's requirements very well. Remember that despite all the investment and new toys, China only spends about $89.8bn on defense, and does not spend that much more than far smaller countries like the UK ($62.7bn), France ($58.8bn) or Japan ($58.4bn). Compared to them, China has far more territory to protect, and still has a vast number of antiquated tanks, fighters and ships that needs replacing. That is where the current priority lies. The UK Type45 might be cool, but look at the eye watering price tag and the tiny number the RN is buying. China could never made do with so few ships.
The 054A might not be as good as a Type45, but then, it doesn't need to be. It is an excellent general purpose frigate, and comes at an amazingly good price. That is why the PLAN will buy a lot of them.
However, as you mentioned the 054A does have a few shortcomings, but they are not something a new VLS or sensors will be able to fix. The cruise speed and endurance are dependent on the hull, and so long as you use the same hull, you will be having the same issues.
If that is indeed the case, then the only realistic solution would be to move onto a new hull design, that was designed specifically to meet the speed and endurance requirements of a carrier escort. This is just me, but it would make far more sense to save the new fency sensor masts and what not for this new escort FFG (which we will call the 059 class for lack of a better term), and you could afford to spend a bit more per hull as you will not need that many of them, and since they will be protecting your carriers, it pays to go all out and get the best.
The 054As could take out the bulk of the other duties leaving the new 059s to focus on escorting the PLAN's new carriers. That makes far more sense to me than Burkes undertaking escort duty for supply ships as is the case with the USN these days.
When you don't have a ridiculous defense budget, it pays to be as efficient as possible.
