I know this is the diplomat but still worth a read.
All You Need to Know About China's New Stealth Destroyer
Addressing misconceptions about China’s latest surface combatant, the Type 055 guided-missile destroyer.
By
June 08, 2018
Approximately one year ago in June 2017, the lead Type 055 large destroyer was launched from Jiangnan shipyard.
With the recent launch of the second Type 055 from Jiangnan and two subsequent Type 055s at Dalian shipyard likely to launch in coming months, it is an instructive time for a proper analysis into this class of warship.
This piece will examine the general characteristics of the Type 055 destroyer informed by the latest open source information and imagery available, and address some mistakes and incorrect interpretations of the ship that has been reported over the last year.
Size
One of the more common errors surrounding the Type 055 is the ship’s size, namely its displacement.
from
have described the 055 as a “10,000 ton” destroyer. This was likely sourced from the original
describing the Type 055 as a “10,000 ton destroyer” surrounding its launch. Unfortunately, this figure seems to have been interpreted as the ship’s full displacement.
However, even a cursory glance at the 055’s dimensions and its configuration reveals a 10,000 ton full displacement is unlikely. From satellite imagery, it is possible to see that the Type 055’s length is between 178 to 180 meters, with a beam of 20 to 21 meters. By comparison, the full displacement of a Flight IIA
Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is about 9,100 tons (with a much smaller length of 155 meters and a beam of 20 meters), and a
Ticonderoga-class cruiser displaces about 9,600 tons (with a smaller length of 173 meters with a much smaller beam of 16.8 meters). Therefore it is very unlikely for a Type 055 to only displace a few hundred tons greater than a Flight IIA
Arleigh Burke or
Ticonderogadespite boasting a significantly greater length and/or beam than both classes.
The Type 055 also has more integrated topside superstructures (smoke stack and amidships structures), therefore the ship’s overall volume and thus its displacement should be significantly greater than that of a Flight IIA
Arleigh Burke or
Ticonderoga, perhaps up to a third. A 13,000 ton full displacement was suggested by an official PLA affiliated website in
, and this ballpark figure has also been suggested by some credible insiders in the Chinese-language defense watching community.
For the sake of brief comparison, at 13,000 tons full displacement, the Type 055 is smaller than the 15,000 ton
Zumwalt class destroyer, but a good 2,000 tons larger than the next largest modern “Aegis type” surface combatant, the 11,000 ton South Korean
Sejong-class destroyer.
As an aside, the reason why Chinese state media described the 055 as a “10,000 ton destroyer” is likely less a reflection of the ship’s actual technical displacement (whether it be full, standard or empty), and more related to the linguistic shorthand and cultural appreciation of the number “ten thousand” in Chinese culture. Ten thousand is considered a number of triumph. For example, Chinese emperors in antiquity were often hailed by their subjects to live for 10,000 years, and even in the modern age, the Forbidden City’s gates are emblazoned with characters hailing the People’s Republic of China to last for 10,000 years.
Design
The Type 055 adopts a conventional flared hull with distinctive stealthy features including an enclosed bow, where mooring points, anchor chains and other equipment are hidden belowdecks. The bow armament adopts a similar configuration to the 052C/D, with the main gun located most anterior, followed by a 64 cell block of VLS, and the eleven barrel H/PJ-11 30mm close in weapons system (CIWS).
The main deckhouse is similar to the proven configuration that the preceding 052D adopts, with fixed four face phased array radars (PARs) arranged for overlapping 360 degree coverage. However, the mast atop the deckhouse is a more advanced integrated mast, with sensors and datalinks integrated into a single structure.
Similarly, the amidships area and the smoke stack is a continuous single structure extending from the main deckhouse. A continuous integrated structure not only provides additional volume for various uses (such as amidships RHIB davits), but also reduces deck clutter and the ship’s associated radar cross section. The single integrated smoke stack is notable, as it appears to shield the exhausts from the ship’s gas turbines to a greater degree, likely to reduce infrared signatures and radar cross section.
Moving posteriorly, there is a 48 cell block of VLS, leading to the aft helicopter hangar structure featuring two helicopter hangars. A step structure atop this hangar was once suspected to possibly accommodate a volume search radar, but instead will likely be equipped with a small dome or other electronics. A 24 cell HHQ-10 missile CIWS and four decoy turrets are equipped atop the hangar. A large stern helipad, greater in size than that on the 052C/D destroyers, accommodates the ship’s organic helicopter complement.
There have been
that the Type 055 may involve aluminium in its construction, however at this stage there are no credible indicators for this suggestion.
Armament
The bulk of the Type 055’s firepower – as in all modern surface combatants – resides in its missile armament that can be judged in its VLS.
The Type 055 uses the same universal VLS on the Type 052D, but with a larger total cell count of 112. As written
, the Chinese Navy’s universal VLS can fire missiles in a cold launch method, or a hot launch using concentric canister launch. Each individual square VLS cell has a diameter of 0.85 meters, significantly greater than that of the Mk-41 VLS at 0.635 meters or even the Zumwalt class’ Mk-57 PVLS at 0.71 meters. The universal VLS comes in three lengths, the greatest being 9 meters, which is longer than the Mk-41’s largest strike length variant at 7.7 meters or the Mk-57’s 7.81 meters. The Type 055’s beam and draft is likely sufficient for all 112 VLS to accommodate the largest 9 meter variant.
What this means in practice, is that an individual Chinese universal VLS cell can accommodate larger missiles than other international equivalents. In the case of Type 055, its 112 VLS count is lower than the
Ticonderoga-class’ 122 or
Sejong-class’ 128, but each cell has a larger internal volume, with the potential to carry a larger missile.
The Type 055’s VLS will likely field existing weapons that have been integrated into the Type 052D, such as the YJ-18 anti ship missile, and current variants of HHQ-9 naval SAMs (thought to be the B variant). But the nature of the universal VLS, means any future payloads could be potentially integrated into the system, such as future SAMs, AShMs, LACMs, ASROCs or even ballistic missile defense payloads.
Aside from VLS, the H/PJ-38 130mm main gun is the same type which equips the Type 052D, but curiously lacks a muzzle brake as opposed to the Type 052D. The aforementioned H/PJ-11 and HHQ-10 CIWS and decoy launchers provide last ditch air defense, and panels on the sides of the amidships region likely hide standard triple 324mm torpedo tubes for short range last ditch ASW.
Future Type 055 variants may alter the VLS count and adopt more exotic armament such as rail guns or directed energy weapons.
to be continued