That's kind of the issue. Sure, it's quite bit better asw for double the cost, but it has to basically hide behind a destroyer or land support just like an 056 has to. It can't really perform independent operations like how a constellation class or european frigates can
The lack of a quadpacked midrange missile is a really huge disadvantage for China. There are a crapton of frigates from 5eyes/europe/japan/korea with 32 MK41s that can fit 24 SM2s and 32 ESSMs while the 054A can only fit ~24 mid range missiles
China can't exactly send a 052D after every such frigate. It needs a new frigate that can deal with them
A few things:
1. Remember that 054A displaces 4000 tons, and is supported by a large and growing fleet of 052C/Ds and 055s. The European frigates displace 6000 tons, with much smaller fleets of 7000-8000 ton destroyers in absolute terms. Naval procurement is not a matter of procuring "like for like" -- the types of ships you buy, the the number of ships that you buy per type, is a reflection of the naval strategy you have and the size of your navy. Sure, a FREMM is more capable than an 054A, but it is also 2000 tons heavier, and purchased in much smaller numbers (especially from a per navy standpoint), and none of the navies buying them have anywhere the number of destroyers that the PLAN has.
2. It's the 21st century. Navies and military forces do not "deal" with hostile foreign surface combatants by sending an equivalent surface combatant of their own. The way you describe it, makes it seem like these ships as if they are "one versus one deathmatches," rather than seeing these ships as only components of a system of systems, where the battle they wage will be one system of systems versus a hostile system of systems.
3. 054As has 32 VLS for HQ-16, not 24. I assume in this case you are maybe allocating 8 of the 054A's VLS to the Yu-8 or something, but if you are not, then this is a pretty elementary mistake to make.
4. A quad packed midrange SAM is in development, and will be compatible with the UVLS. If it isn't compatible with 054A's AJK-16 VLS, then that's just something they'll have to deal with and is a reflection of the fact that when 054A was first designed, the UVLS was not available. However, the HQ-16 missile itself is of sufficient size and in sufficient numbers that upgrades to it will almost certainly emerge, and likely make it more than just a medium range SAM simply by virtue of its size.
5. You get what you pay for. Based on insiders, we know that 054A costs about $230 million USD, 052D costs about $540 million USD, 055 costs $930 million USD. Compare that to some of the publicly known costs costs of FREMM ($713 million USD, Constellation $795 million USD), or Type 26 (1.7 billion USD) and you begin to see that 054A costs a third to a quarter of the frigates you described -- to such a degree that even an 052D is cheaper than one of those frigates. In that context, is it really reasonable to compare 054A with a FREMM, Constellation, or Type 26? Wouldn't it make more sense to compare 054B with them, or even 052D?
In short, you say that an 054A can't do all of the same missions as a FREMM, Constellation etc -- but it's 1/3 of the cost, and 2000 tons smaller in displacement (aka 2/3 the total displacement, or less!) of many of those frigates..... so what do you expect?
If anything looking at what 054A
can do, for the cost and the size of it, it seems like a pretty darn good deal.
How did you manage to turn a weakness of EU/Western navies into smt that sounding like a strength?
