Is that 054A’s VLS or 052D/055’s universal VLS?A high-resolution version.
054B/new generation frigate
- Thread starter Blitzo
- Start date
by78
General
Can't tell for sure due to the angle, the obstruction, and the resolution.
Hinges correspond the most with the 054A and they also seem to lack the protrusions in the 'intercellulair' spaces like on the 052D and 055.
Or it could be a new VLS design.
Last edited:
asif iqbal
Lieutenant General
the final and 40th Type 054A has been commissioned or not?
in Toal they built 44 units with the 4 for PN over 15 year period that is just shy of 3 per year average
in Toal they built 44 units with the 4 for PN over 15 year period that is just shy of 3 per year average
Definitely a 100mm alright. You don't have to look at the gun to know it. All you need to see is the gunnery fire control radar used. Type 344 is used with 100mm and 130mm guns, and Type 347/349 is used with 76mm guns and smaller, all the way down to CIWS calibers. Here we see a Type 344.
Not enough to see the VLS however.
The size definitely looks like H/AJK-16, HT-1 or UVLS is huge!
Those are for the crane that can be used to reload on UVLS. Pretty cool design actually.
I doubt it's a new VLS design; having 3 types of VLS in the fleet makes zero sense. But it could be a longer version of H/AJK-16 given that so far it's only known to support 5.2 and 5.4m long missiles. It might be around 5.5m deep on 054A and 054B has a much deeper hull.
Unlikely to be the latter, based on satellite observation thus far. Length-wise is close, but the main difference is width.
Comparison, from top to bottom: 054A, 054B, 052D, 055.
Posted by @大包CG on Weibo.
There's the 5-5-5 quad-packable mid-range SAM shown in Chinese military expos, but that's for the 850mm UVLS. I believe that the 5-5-5 would be the PLAN-equivalent to the USN's RIM-162.
However, so far there has been zero indication of the PLAN showing keen interests in such ideas, despite having much larger UVLS cells than their American counterpart (635mm).
No information of any quad-packable SAMs planned/proposed for the 650mm VLS on the 054As and 054Bs, though.
That specific missile shown at expos has a name, it is FM-3000N. And we haven't had any indications to suggest it is the 5-5-5 missile, for all we know FM-3000N is the losing contender for the tender.