Must be the Trump effect in action. I'm not sure Hitlary would have scared them as much.
055 DDG Large Destroyer Thread
- Thread starter FarkTypeSoldier
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I'm sure you're joking, yes?
I imagine you'd be well aware that the decision to order the ship depicted in those modules would've been done months if not a year or more ago at least, well before Trump won the eleciton.
Coming from fzgfzy is among the closest to gospel we get for certain naval projects.
I must say I'm mildly surprised that the production for the new class is progressing so quickly. When 052D production started about four years ago I did wonder if it would mean an eventual snowballing of Chinese naval production in surface combatants, where production rates for destroyers like 052D and beyond would eventually reach the rate set by the impressive 054A production run, but going straight for the jugular like how the 055 production is straight off the bat without even the first ship in the water is definitely worthy of a raised eyebrow or two.
Agreed.
This kind of production rate might speak for the fact that PLAN is feeling some urgency to get the vessels quickly. It could also be indicating that the Chinese naval shipbuilding industry is maturing and, more importantly, most if not all components of 055 have met PLAN's satisfaction.
Agreed.
But if true, it just shows that the PLAN and PRC leadership are completely comfortable with the systems and hull design and are putting full faith in it right out of the chute.
Even if it is just 3-4 simultaneous builds, that is a surprise and a pointed message.
The PLAN clearly has decided it has an urgent need for these main stay, central figures in their battle groups...both for carriers and for Amphibious groups. Those big ships are just too valuable to not offer them as much defense as possible and the Type 055 is clearly it for the PLAN for the foreseeable future.
There is another aspect to this which is hard to prove, but could also make big changes to what we are seeing. That is the use of super computers, modeling and simulation. China has been pouring massive money into this space for decades and we could be seeing the fruition of this as a large amount of one design come out, showing confidence in the model. Historically, China would done one or two of a physical design, learn from the real world, change and iterate in new versions.
Key sentence:
大猫只能告诉你们，我当年说的是首批8条55，现在可以说，但是那是当年的数字了。
"Big Cat (fzgfzy's "nickname" because of his avatar) can only tell you so much: What I have said past year about the first batch of 055s being 8 hulls, I can tell you know, that was merely the number of the past."
大猫只能告诉你们，我当年说的是首批8条55，现在可以说，但是那是当年的数字了。
"Big Cat (fzgfzy's "nickname" because of his avatar) can only tell you so much: What I have said past year about the first batch of 055s being 8 hulls, I can tell you know, that was merely the number of the past."
Well the advancements in modeling and simulation certainly help no doubt, but remember this design is not a revolutionary concept as far as past PLAN ships go. It is basically a larger 052D with double the VLS cells, same CIWS arrangement, same main gun, COGAG instead of CODOG but using the same GT engines, and similar if not identical AESA MFR. The ESM mast is new. Possibly the ECM may also be new, possibly not. That's about it. Future versions may start using more fancy propulsion systems like IEP but I seriously doubt the first batch will have it. So really there is nothing groundbreaking about this design and so it is not hard to see why the PLAN feels so comfortable producing the 055 in large quantities straight from the get go.
That is true, however I think considering that the ship itself is still a new hull and design, the largest surface combatant produced by the domestic industry to date, and also likely fielding some new subsystems in addition to the more mature subsystems, I do think their fast rate of production for a new design straight off the bat is a bit of a deviation from previous surface combatant production.
I mean, we all knew that eventually they would be confident enough in their industry to be willing to dive into relatively fast paced batch production for a clean sheet new design eventually, without having to test/iterate a pair of ships first, but for it to be the 055 DDG is a bit of a surprise. (056 could be argued to have fulfilled that distinction but I think there's a case to be made for its derivation from the Pattani class opv)
SinoSoldier
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Plot twist: the design of the 055 is actually unsatisfactory so the number has been cut down to 4.
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