055 DDG Large Destroyer Thread

[Iron Man]

see anything?

Unfortunately, my flight in was delayed and this is the best I could do. No use pulling out the camera so I just snapped an iPhone photo:



It was taken from about this location:



I think the 055 was located here:



The flight out was also at night.


Anyway, I did make plenty of sightings of this:

 

[Iron Man]

Found a side view of the 055 during construction. It gives a idea of the shape of the ship's superstructure just forward of the aft cell area.
View attachment 42406
If you don't mind me adding to your drawing, it shows the likely size of the aft vls cell area. View attachment 42407

This is incorrect. The blue line correctly marks the forward edge of the VLS area whereas your forward yellow line dips an entire deck below the weatherdeck. The chance of there being 64 cells in the rear is slim to none at this point.

 

[latenlazy]

Anyway, I did make plenty of sightings of this:
View attachment 42411

The most important sighting.

 

[Iron Man]

The most important sighting.

Those sightings resulted in significant and unintended weight gain.

 

[Lethe]

The photo analysis has been interesting but at the end of the day I think the difference between 112 or 128 cells is pretty trivial.

There's an interesting graphical model in the video Hendrik_2000 posted around the 1m mark, discussed in more detail by Henri K.

It would appear that the 055 has 6 gas turbine generator sets, in addition to 2xCOGAG. Henri K speculates the gas turbine generators could generate between 30-42MW of electrical power, 3x as much as the Flight III Arleigh Burke. So it could be that they traded off some missile capacity for future energy growth/redundancy requirements.

Generator capacity ready for IEP?

 

[Iron Man]

There's an interesting graphical model in the video Hendrik_2000 posted around the 1m mark, discussed in more detail by Henri K.

It would appear that the 055 has 6 gas turbine generator sets, in addition to 2xCOGAG. Henri K speculates the gas turbine generators could generate between 30-42MW of electrical power, 3x as much as the Flight III Arleigh Burke. So it could be that they traded off some missile capacity for future energy growth/redundancy requirements. Also, the new stealth smoke stack takes up its share of space.

If I'm looking at the graphics correctly, the video seems to show a rather unique COGAG setup, different from the ones I've seen before. Instead of the usual forward/aft pairs of GTs powering either the port or starboard shafts, it looks like the 055's arrangement is a port/starboard pairing, with a forward/port GT linked to an aft/port GT that both power a port shaft, and vice versa for the starboard side.

Typical COGAG:

Possible 055 COGAG:

 

[Iron Man]

Also, if the 6x GT generator theory is correct, we will need to be able to see some kind of venting system for the aft generators' uptakes and downtakes in the area of the helicopter deckhouse. They would necessarily have to be aft of the aft VLS section. Perhaps that alleged giant microwave emitter panel is actually serving a far more mundane purpose....

 

[Lethe]

Wasn't there some story about China having come up with a new transmission system for 055 allowing the ship to run off a single GT, thereby addressing the efficiency concerns of all-GT propulsion?

 

[Iron Man]

You don't need some kind of new transmission system for the 055 to run off a single GT. It can already do that with any existing transmission systems. It's called a clutch. Disengage 3 out of 4 clutches and your 055 will be running off a single GT turning a single shaft.

 

[Tyloe]

Found a side view of the 055 during construction. It gives a idea of the shape of the ship's superstructure just forward of the aft cell area.]

That's the hanger structure though, not the smoke stacks connected to the stepdeck. In the screenshot, the blue Iine's the aft edge of the stepdeck and if you line up the closest visible VLS row, it shows only tight spacing left. Also consider spacing between each 8-cell module. Of course the real number will be made clear by more photos sooner or later.

Also, if the 6x GT generator theory is correct, we will need to be able to see some kind of venting system for the aft generators' uptakes and downtakes in the area of the helicopter deckhouse. They would necessarily have to be aft of the aft VLS section. Perhaps that alleged giant microwave emitter panel is actually serving a far more mundane purpose....

A dumb question but do ship based generators, like turbine engines also need ventilation? I caught the aft view of the CAD model but it doesn't seem to account the vent system.