055 DDG Large Destroyer Thread

[AndrewS]

@Bltizo

A cold launched missile that fails to ignite will fall back onto the VLS grid.

So a few degrees of slant is prudent

 

[Jura The idiot]

Clearly PSed. ...

LOL I wonder who's going to be the first to resolve this issue

 

[by78]

I don't think the structures on its hull are inlets as suggested. Those on 056's hull, enclosed smokestacks & under the bridge, as well as on C28A seem to be supported flat panels with space between them and the hull. 055's are complete fully enclosed structures and seem to be arrays.

I think the protruding panels on 055 might be temporary covers to provide protection against the elements while they finish installing the sensors (wiring up the backend from the inside the hull). We've seen this done before on 052D: before they finished the four large AESA arrays, they too were covered by large protective panels that protrude from the hull. The same was done with the AESA arrays on the Type 001A (Shandong). I think once the sensor installation is done, the actual antenna will fit much more flush with the hull.

 

[Iron Man]

@Bltizo

A cold launched missile that fails to ignite will fall back onto the VLS grid.

So a few degrees of slant is prudent

Sorry, but there are no degrees of slant in the universal VLS.

Here is what a few degrees of slant looks like:


Here is what zero degrees of slant looks like:

LOL I wonder who's going to be the first to resolve this issue

That's definitely an old CGI, so there is nothing to resolve.

 

[Jura The idiot]

...



That's definitely an old CGI, so there is nothing to resolve.

I figured this:

View attachment 40111 055 VS 052D

wasn't legit, what I meant by

LOL I wonder who's going to be the first to resolve this issue

26 minutes ago
was the first SDF member posting a picture showing the actual number of VLS cells on the Type 055 ... did my English fail me?

 

[Tyloe]

Yeah I think those panels are definitely not ventilation-related at this point, especially after high resolution photos show no evidence of any gap between the plates and the hull.
.

Scratched my head all day when both you and Blitzo suggested that they may be vents. Didn't know about 056's intake setup until googled for highest res pics.

I think metric-wave radar is unlikely because it has no panels facing bow and stern, and a radar that only covers half the sky is no radar at all. ECM is a possibility, though ideally that should cover 360 degrees as well, and there are other candidates for ECM on the 055 like the mast and bridge wing panels. Given that previous ECM systems on board PLAN ships only covered port and starboard, these big panels could conceivably be ECM-related. Or they could represent a completely new function that has not been present on previous PLAN ships.

They were satisfied to place the VHF band Yagi radar amidship on 052D, even with the blind spots made by the hangar and forward superstructure (or at least by the mast). Maybe it's still early to drop long-band radar possibility?

I think the protruding panels on 055 might be temporary covers to provide protection against the elements while they finish installing the sensors (wiring up the backend from the inside the hull). We've seen this done before on 052D: before they finished the four large AESA arrays, they too were covered by large protective panels that protrude from the hull. The same was done with the AESA arrays on the Type 001A (Shandong). I think once the sensor installation is done, the actual antenna will fit much more flush with the hull.

So its more evident that these are in fact some sort of arrays and not air vents. With special covers for Type 346A installation, perhaps pointing more at a new search radar that shares similar components?

 

[Iron Man]

Scratched my head all day when both you and Blitzo suggested that they may be vents. Didn't know about 056's intake setup until googled for highest res pics.

You should keep in mind that this was before hi-res photos of those areas were available and we could clearly see that there were no gaps between the plates and the hull.

They were satisfied to place the VHF band Yagi radar amidship on 052D, even with the blind spots made by the hangar and forward superstructure (or at least by the mast). Maybe it's still early to drop long-band radar possibility?

The hangar was certainly not any kind of blind spot for the yagi; look at a photo of either the 052C or 052D and you will see that the yagi is well above the hangar. The mast and superstructure represent only minimal blind spots since the yagi antenna is an aerial early warning radar, and as such has no need to search the horizon. You also have to remember that radar horizon is actually lower than visual horizon, so the minimal obstruction posed by the superstructure may actually be no obstruction at all. TBH if the 052D designers needed the yagi to clear the superstructure any more than it does currently, they would have just raised the yagi antenna higher than where it sits now. Clearly they didn't feel the need.

 

[Tyloe]

My mistake, thanks for clarifying about the Yagi's coverage.

So say If all the hull mounted arrays are the same (only being differently shaped to prevent EM interference), would it make more sense that all of them, are ECM then being search radars? Like if a single ECM array's ability and degree of coverage may not be enough to cover the areas near the hangar against multi- angled saturations, particularly at its vulnerable flanks? Or 4 ECMs are redundant for its function?

 

[Iron Man]

My mistake, thanks for clarifying about the Yagi's coverage.

So say If all the hull mounted arrays are the same (only being differently shaped to prevent EM interference), would it make more sense that all of them, are ECM then being search radars? Like if a single ECM array's ability and degree of coverage may not be enough to cover the areas near the hangar against multi- angled saturations, particularly at its vulnerable flanks? Or 4 ECMs is redundant for its function?

Well I'm not even convinced they are ECM to begin with. There is still the outside chance that they are something else entirely, or possibly not even electronics-related at all. They could just be temporary covers; they do stick out more from the hull than the other panels do.

 

[Blitzo]

@Bltizo

A cold launched missile that fails to ignite will fall back onto the VLS grid.

So a few degrees of slant is prudent

I'm not questioning the rationale behind why some cold launch systems have slants.

My question is why you think the universal VLS on 052D and 055 may have slants wben is we've had many photos of the universal VLS to establish that there is no such thing.