The current situation is, we still know nothing about the mid-ship missile setup, it could either be 8X YJ-83, 8X YJ-12, 16X UVLS, 32X UVLS.
052C/D is an old hull, as one of the most heavily-armed 7000t vessels, the room for further modification is nearly exhausted just like Arleigh Burke Flight 3.
054B is a new hull with a more powerful diesel engine, it is full of possibilities, but still, many things need to be testified. The current situation of 054B is similar to 054 in 2003. Before the massive production of 054A, only two 054 were built, and does not even have a VLS. However, the hull and the propulsion are the same, 054 serves as an experiment.
I expect 054B to be a do-everything ship, if future 054C carries 16 or 32 UVLS in mid-ship, the anti-ship capabilities are also fulfilled.
- 054B is the same width as 052D, which means capable of inserting 16 or 32 mid-ship UVLS.
- If 054B/C carries YJ-18 or YJ-21, it can even play wolfpack tactics against CSG.
- Even so, the production cost is still much less than 052D, it is capable of mass production.
052D (7500t) and 054A (4000t) is the current pairing, 055 (13000t) and 054B (6000t) is the future pairing.
The goal is to set up a suitable pairing with 055, replacing 054/054A/052C/052D for sailing in the east Pacific, so either a 052E will look like a 054C, or a 054C will look like a 052E. The only debate is to adopt which propulsion method.
This ship has a similar role as 054, which does not even have a VLS and uses HHQ-7.
If you are enlarging 52, then bigger to what extent? If going big enough, you already have 055, which fulfills everything better than 052D.
The reasonable way is it go smaller for 50+ mass production.
Massive mini 6000t 052E/054C > Luxury bulky 9000t 052E.
The 054A/B and 052D respectively occupy completely separated tiers of surface combatant in the PLAN.
One is a FFG, the other is a DDG. These two warship types play different roles in the PLAN such that attempting to replace one warship type with the other means that the PLAN will lose out big in certain capabilities that the replaced warship type actually excels at doing.
No need to look further than across the Pacific - The US is pivoting back to the "high-low" tier mix with the Constellation FFGs after realizing that having the Arleigh Burke DDGs to do all the jobs on the high seas is proving to be overtaxing a 9000+ ton warship that has to do all the other things in a USN naval fleet, namely fleet air defense and anti-ship/land-attack operations.
Trying to have the 054Bs to take over the 052Ds is basically returning to what the US Navy did wrong - But worse. Even with an additional 32x UVLS amidships on the 054B means little as long as the radars, sensors and computer systems onboard the 054B are tailored to the missions of an FFG.
Besides, a surface combatant which is tailored towards fleet air defense and anti-ship missions on the high seas is considerably more demanding towards the platform which carries all sorts of radars, sensors, computer systems and equipment necessary for such missions. Such demands would be a very hard struggle for an FFG platform at 6000+ tons to fulfill. Plus, even if/when future development on the 052D DDG resulted in a platform (notionally designated 052E) that displaces 9000+ tons, I don't really see that as a problem, given how surface combatants of today and into the future are generally trending upwards in terms of size.
What is actually taking the chunk of expenses to build, operate and maintain a warship isn't the size and displacement of the warship's hull, but the radars, sensors, computers, weapon systems, propulsion and electrical systems and associated equipment onboard said warship.
In fact, using the 6000-ton 054B FFG as an "all-purpose/do-all" workhorse of the PLAN as you have mentioned would only considerably limit the capabilities and potential of said "all-purpose/do-all" workhorse warships. And that hasn't consider the necessary future improvement and upgrades to be done onto the warship itself.
Just build more 055, why waste your resources on a 9000t potential-exhausted hull? What role can it play when having everything surpassed?
In terms of tonnage,
054A / 052D ≈ 054B / 055
4000 / 7500 ≈ 6000 / 13000
I don't see how a 9000-ton 052E hull is a potential-exhausted hull if it is a newly designed hull that is significantly larger and different than the hulls of the 052C/D.
Who says that the 052E hull must be jam-packed to the brim with weapons and stuff?
I'd prefer the 052E to only have marginal increase in terms of armaments, but with significant improvements to the radar, sensor and computer systems, more efficient and powerful propulsion and electrical systems, alongside better endurance and long-term accommodation for its crew - While having sufficient spare capacity and volume that would permit future upgrades to be installed onboard than the 052D.
There is no room for a 9000t vessel, 055 is the successor for 052D. The reason 052DL kept building is due to maturity, since PLAN is eager to expand its fleets capacity in the upcoming years.
If the 055 is indeed a successor to the 052D, then they won't keep building more 052Ds while also building 055s simultaneously.
Besides, one important factor being that the 055 is pretty expensive. And at present, China needs to:
1.
Expand its surface combatant fleet at speed, WHILE
2.
Bringing capability upgrades across-the-board, AND
3.
Without exhausting China's war chest in the process.
Here's the thing: The
054B is tailored towards
fleet ASW and
not fleet AAW, while the
055 is
rather cost-prohibitive to be procured in large numbers. That naturally leaves the
052D (and possibly
052E in the future)
as the only warship capable of fulfilling the responsibilities of
fleet AAW in PLAN fleet formations with
sufficient versatility for other tasks and
within reasonable budget.
