Most of what you see about PLA on Naval News or The War Zone is derived from SDF and related X accounts.
054B/new generation frigate
- Thread starter Blitzo
- Start date
It certainly beats the pure drivel that The War Zone typically writes about the PLA when left to their own devices. When commenting on defense news on the US the TWZ site is less bad, because they have proper sources more often.
Naval News in contrast seems to be a pretty decent site in general. And it is done way more professionally than TWZ.
Naval News in contrast seems to be a pretty decent site in general. And it is done way more professionally than TWZ.
Thought Alex Luck = Para80 here ?
Alex Luck's Twitter is insufferable.
Yes but main radar is doing it which is the case on the earlier version of the HQ-9. Unless the missile has built in flight telemetry whose data is radioed to the ship via data link. Using the tracking data obtained from either the two methods, the fire control computer in the ship determines the optimal flight path to the target and controls the missile via datalink until the missile goes terminally active.
Don't know which of the two methods the later HQ-9s and the active guidance HQ-16F would use. If the main radar has to do it, the rear of the missile has to be modified to increase its RCS so the main radar can track it further. If built in flight telemetry is used, this can consume some valuable tight internal space within the missile, plus it's an additional battery drain.
In Yankee’s talk show last night, he mentioned PLAN intends to transfer all frigates in the destroyer division to the frigates division. That means all 054As will combined with 056As, become the offshore defence force. In this scenario, how to arrange 054Bs becomes a problem. Because it’s a more expensive ship but still a frigate. Some people are talking about 054B may become a new generation 051B, a very small number of transitional models.
That sounds very reasonable.
I don't see what the problem is with 054Bs replacing the role that 054As currently have in destroyer flotillas.
While 054Bs are more expensive than 054As, they are also more capable and the Chinese economy is much larger than it was in the past.
Mass procurement of 054Bs (and/or a successor model depending on how big of a production run they have) to sit in destroyer flotillas seems fairly logical in that context.
You might not like his German or his cats, but the man doesn't go around making up random bullshit about the PLA. He's a reliable source.
