I could imagine that its one of the reasons why the design was rejected, with PLAN looking to have a CIWS in front, behind the front VLS, and the HQ-10 on the back on top of the hanger. This design also uses a single helo, and maybe the PLAN is looking for something that can carry two helicopters as big as the Z-20. Another issue might be the radar and mast design. Is it me, or that's the same radar that's used on the Type 055's mast? The VLS appears to be H/AJK-16, like those on the 054A, meant to launch HQ-16A/B, but there are no illuminators throughout. As we have seen with other export frigate proposals, like this below, they bother to include the missile illuminators.
So the frigate proposal deliberate omits the illuminators, which indicates two things, one is that it's firing a new kind of active guided SAM, and other, which I feel is more likely, its using HQ-16 but is target illuminated using the X-band AESA radars that are on the top mast.
In order to keep the costs down, and that four set X-band AESA radars must be expensive enough, there is no other radar on the ship that acts as a dedicated search radar. This leaves the ship to rely only on the four set X-band for every function, with a legacy Type 344 or Type 347G or Type 349 gun fire control radar as a backup, situated at the bottom of the mast. Furthermore, as if they want to control the costs down further, the CIWS doesn't have its own radar and EO, and is similar to the Type 730B, which is used on the 053H3 refit. The 730B is the 730 without the Type 347G radar and EO, and instead, there is a single Type 347G radar in the middle of the two CIWS that controls both of them. This means the four faced AESA, along with the legacy gun fire control radar, will also have to control the guns.
It is interesting to see the 730B --- or is it a radarless EOless version of the Type 1130 instead --- has a stealth turret design --- which is something long overdue on all PLAN vessels.
