Some people lack reading comprehension
More like you don't have a good grasp on what you're talking about.
Like, do you really believe that the PLAN in 2024 is still procuring the exact same OG 054As as if they were from the mid-2000s? Really?
As a guy with some background in the engineering field - I can tell you that there can be (and often is the case)
A LOT of behind-the-scene iterations and upgrades going on for any type of equipment or machinery that can look from the outside as if it was unchanged/only changing a little from the 1990s or 2000s. There're plenty of things going on behind those thin metal sheets of the warship's walls that we outsiders don't really know or realize.
In addition, the "G" in the "054AGs" (also known as the 5th batch of the 054A-class) doesn't stand for nothing. Those four thin strip of AESA panels installed above the bridge and helicopter hangar superstructures of the 054AGs are the most noticeable case of that.
And needless to say - There is
A LOT MORE behind those simple, clean-looking AESA panels on the 054AGs, 054Bs, 052Cs, 052D/DGs and 055s. You don't just buy some AESA modules from Alibaba, install it on a major surface combatant of the 2nd largest navy in the world, and call it a day.
If I assume 054B to have similar sailor count. That means those sailors could be much more efficient and capable if they are provided with a ship with better armament.
We don't know if the 054B will have the same sailor count as the 054A, so I don't think it'd be wise to speculate much based on that.
So, 100 054A vs 100 frigate with higher end armament such as better ASHM missile or better Air Defense missile.
And we're already seeing how that goes on the other side of the Pacific, with how the USN trying to make the Constellations into essentially mini-Burkes - Instead of the "do-your-job-as-told"-type FFGs like the 054A/AGs and 054Bs - Is turning out.
Besides, people often forgot that unlike the USN, the PLAN is
not operating as a truly expeditionary navy (at least for the near future). Much of the PLAN's wartime operations are to be confined
to the 2IC at the furthest,
realistic extent.
Moreover, unlike the PN, RAN or RCN, for example - The 054A/AG is
neither the
only major surface combatant of the PLAN,
nor is the 054A
the top-tier surface combatant of the PLAN. There's still the larger and more capable 052D/DGs and 055s that are currently being serial-produced for the PLAN which do the heavy lifting in air defense and anti-ship missions.
Hence, if anything - I'd prefer that even as the 054Bs do not have the top-tier air-defense and anti-ship capabilities, the 054Bs should be equipped with
the best anti-submarine capabilities that the Chinese MIC can offer - And with
the anti-submarine capabilities that are comparable to (if not on par with) the US and Japanese counterparts.
