I'd rate Zumwalt as pure D. Its tomahwaks are for land strike only, plus there's bound to be at least8-16 cells taken by ESSM, leaving a decent but not huge number of tomahawks.
You can rate it however you want. But that does not mean that the rating is necessarily correct.
The Zumwalts can be (and will be) outfitted with the ship attack version of the tactical tomohawk for anti-surface, war at sea duties, in addition, I expect at some point thirr long range 155mm munitions will be auigmented with an anti-ship version.
The Zumwalts can be and will be loaded with SM-3 anti-air missiles for long range and area anti-air coverage in any major task force they are a part of. Of its 80 cells, I would expect that 12 cells would be ESSM (that's 48 very effective short to medium range anti-air missiles) and probably 36 cells for SM-3 for long range anti-air, which leaves 32 VLS for tomohawks of various types.
The Zumwalts will have one of the most sophistiacted ASW sonar/sensor suites available as well as ASW helicopters to prosecute contacts at distance.
To presume that the Zumwalts are a purely land attack vessel and nothing more, is a serious underestimation of their capabilities that the professional naval planners in the PLAN, the Russians, and others will not make.
Those vessels will be very effective and powerful multi-role combatants. With very capable land attack, fire support, war at sea, ASW, and anti-air capabilities that can and will be exploited wherever they are in use.
I meant C as a pure surface ship warrior, like Slava. But Slava's existance is closely linked to huge, 10 ton antiship missiles. PLAN doesn't seem to be going in that direction so i don't think we'll see 055 (or any other class) go into that direction. With aircraft carriers being the main force strike force outside the first island chain, there's no need for such a dedicated class.
Again, the Slava class has a very serious anti-air capability and is meant to perform very effectively in that role, along with its anti-shipping capability, in any task force that they accompany.
Although not as strong in terms of its own onboard sensors as a Zumwalt, it still has very credible onboard ASW sensors, a very strong onboard ASW weapons fit, and the helicopter to prosecute contacts at range. With their twin 130mm gun, they can provide effective fire support too. Again, the Slava is also a muilt-role vessel which any planner will have to take into account when preparing for one of them.
B is possible in theory but no one really made such a ship. I guess, of course, big ships like Tico and KDXIII are already closest to such a role with their many VLS cells. But for a dedicated arsenal ship i'd really go with submarine, not a surface ship.
The US regularly considers such vessels and to date has not chosen a surface ship to act as such. An arsenal ship was never intended to be purely surface or land attack. Their many VLS cells are meant to also be able to perform in the area anti-air coverage as well.
The US is now again considering such a vessel in the LPD II designs being considered as a follow-on to the San Antonio class where one of the variants would in fact represent an arsenal ship. We'll see how that goes and if the Navy plans to acquie any. With the current economic situation, IMHO, it is doubtful, though they would be vewry decent vessels and could work as a very effective center piece to any major task force because they are big enough to put the largest, most effective dual band radars on.
While leaves us A as the most likely purpose, we agree on that. But if 055 is a true multipurpose ship then there's no sense in making a whole new class and then building just several ships.
I agree that the Type 055, if it is built, will definitely be a multi-role vessel. But as I have shown with the Zumwalt, you can have a very effective multi-role vessel, even if you build them in relative small numbers.
My own personal feeling is that the PLAN is going to serial build a number of Type 52D vessel before going on to a larger vessel in any case.
The Type 052D is going to represnt a very strong multi-role escort vessel for the PLAN carriers and large amphibious assault vessels, as well as a very effective general addition to each DDG flotilla. They will need enough of them to serve those flotilla needs for all three fleets and still have enough to meet the escort needs as required with combined fleet operations and/or woith the carrier(s).
I expect the Type 055, if it is built, to end up being used as the centerpiece for those types of task forces. The lead escort, if you will, helping coordinate and provide strength in depth to such task forces.
I also expect them to operate as task force leaders for larger SAGs as required.
But, the Type 052D I expect will also be able to fill this role pretty effectively until such time as the PLAN decides they need more. That's when we will see the Type 055 come along. Who knows, perhaps they have already made that decision, but I expect not yet. They need to get the Type 052D integrated with its new weapons and systems first IMHO.
But all of that is just my opinion on the matter.
