We know that YJ-12 is a one to one replacement for the YJ-83, there is no reduction of YJ-12s over YJ-83s period. The 051B has 16 YJ-83s. It was replaced by 16 YJ-12s.
1. 2000 kg missile can not be "no reduction over 700 kg period"! This is not how ship design works, on the very basic level.
Ship can take this much of a change (with a corresponding increase in draft), or weight can be found/compensated elsewhere. But nothing is free, we are not on hard land.
2. Worth noting(Tarantul/Constellation case), that if you have space, for broadly the same weight you can have 16 ascms. Or you can have a full multi-purpose battery(4 ASCM/ASW rocket) for a weight of just ~1.5 (type 056).
2.ASEAN statement is an interesting point. There is essentially no added value in having YJ-12s against most ASEAN navies; upgraded YJ-83s would be able to do exactly the same thing, but sneakier, and probably much cheaper. If anything, these navies have quite a lot of smaller targets, against which YJ-83 will be a superior pick.
We know that YJ-12 is a one to one replacement for the YJ-83, there is no reduction of YJ-12s over YJ-83s period. The 051B has 16 YJ-83s. It was replaced by 16 YJ-12s. That sounds like it can take down a single ASEAN navy. The 054A/P will be equipped with 8 CM-302, or export YJ-12. Even if the YJ-12 is much heavier than a YJ-83, at least 2000kg+ over the 700kg YJ-83, the difference in weight would not mean much for a ship. Should be noted that both HF-III and ASM-3 is smaller, with HF-III is small enough to fit into a corvette.
You can fit
any missile at
any boat, as long as it is designed for it, geometrically fits, and won't sink it. This isn't new. This is an inherent advantage of a self-contained weapon, which a missile is.
First Chinese torpedo boats were ex-soviet 15t "floatplane floats" with 2 1.5t torpedoes. It isn't inconceivable to fit, say, tomahawk on a similarly-sized cutter(for example, unmanned).
But it doesn't change the fact that there is no "free" fit on ships.
When it comes to stealth, a subsonic missile with a rounded or egg shaped dome isn't stealthier than a supersonic missile.
Stealth isn't just radar stealth. And you won't be able to hide your IR signature when you're flying on a literal torch.
(1)Small ASCMs flying right above sea level are inherently stealthy. Simply because of the altitude of flight and their size. Wargames often show exactly that.
(2)frontal RCS isn't the only signature. There is also heat, missile's own emissions, and even visual signature. Finally, supersonics inherently have to fly higher for given conditions - lower efficiency, thermal loads, and trivial risk of collision.
(3)Kalibr-style missiles are an interesting combination - and it's indeed probably a good option for a new frigate. But it's worth noting that for their dash capability they lose much of the advantages of subsonic ones. Terminal stages are (1)small(directly affects volume/capability of installed seeker), (2)less maneuverable, (3)have the full signature of their solid-fuel rocket motor(including reflections of the plume), they're are energy limited (4).
Disclaimer: it doesn't mean that this post is another anti-stealth rumbling. It is meant to say that all modern light asms are a pain to deal with, not only stealthy ones. Stealthy/passive ones are simply even more annoying (but also more susceptible to passive countermeasures).
Nor it is rumbling against supersonic missiles. It's only aimed at the "bigger-faster=better" line of thinking.
The plus for subsonics is that they are still more useful against small, stealthier littoral ships. Against corvettes, supersonic ASMs are overkill, and stealthy littoral vessels are hard to spot over long ranges and they take advantage of both the Earth curvature and the sea clutter. A missile would require loiter time and fly in a search pattern to acquire the target and do numerous course corrections, and its much harder to do that in a supersonic than in a subsonic. While a larger destroyer like the refitted 051B might be meant to counter deep blue fleets with larger ships, the Type 054A frigate also has the job to counter smaller vessels, such as corvettes and other frigates. For this reason I won't be surprised that the Type 054A would retain its YJ-83s, which by the way, the latest export version now appears to be 290km which appears to MTCR limited figure, so its possible the domestic variant can now reach over 300km. Plus the seeker system now appears to be dual guided, radar and IIR, which makes it virtually ECM resistant, and IIR also does a better job in littoral combat, because littoral areas, where the sea floor is shallow and there are plenty of birds, fish and rocks, is even higher in clutter which can be frustrating to a radar seeker. The fact that you have a dual seeker YJ-83 also shows the PLAN has not forgotten about dealing with other littoral opponents. (Hint hint, this is also about dealing with LCS armed with NSMs. And yes, the Type 056 fleet are using these new missiles too.) The bonus also is that the dual seeker YJ-83 might also be capable of land strikes, which means the missiles can be useful in an amphibious scenario or is capable of clearing rock islands where batteries of antiship missiles are deployed, like what Japan plans to do in the Ryukus.
Yes, exactly.
