055 DDG Large Destroyer Thread
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Hendrik_2000
Lieutenant General
According to LKJ86 Nanchang enter service
Any confirmation?
Hull 101 (Nanchang) enters service on April 12, 2019.
Any confirmation?
Hull 101 (Nanchang) enters service on April 12, 2019.
D
Deleted member 13312
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That did be doubtful, the PLAN when out of its way to make even the launching ceremony a literal fanfare, for them to commission the first 055 in such a matter with barely a whimper by the media is weird to slay the least.According to LKJ86 Nanchang enter service
Any confirmation?
Hull 101 (Nanchang) enters service on April 12, 2019.
Not weird if the ship is to be presented first at the naval review commemorating the 70th anniversary of the PLAN. Why waste money on two celebrations?
I mean you only have to wait a couple of weeks.
PLAN would've to come up with a new stealth destroyer to look as cool as the zumwalt. But the zumwalt is limited to only 3 units.PLAN Type 055 DDG vs. USN Zumwalt-class destroyer ... an amazing model comparison (images via LKJ86/PDF)
... something @Jeff Head surely likes!
View attachment 51802 View attachment 51803 View attachment 51804 View attachment 51805
So i guess the real competition will be between the next PLAN destroyer and USN's upcoming LSC to present the flagship of destoyers to the world.
Zumwalt certainly looks more futuristic but is the limited improvement to RCS (we're only talking surface looks here) worth all that extra room, steel, production cost, time, and complexity for China if they were to wish for a Zumwalt looking equivalent cruiser/destroyer? I doubt it. After all only one of these two are actually in service and continuously being built. The other is a rejected program. The Zumwalt concept is built around the power delivery system and the main guns which were intended to be railguns. The US naval railgun project is still being worked on and they've found a temporary substitution. Without living up to the whole point of delivering enough power to use those two railguns repeatedly and effectively against multiple target types, the appeal of the Zumwalt faltered. Type 055 is designed as a match for AB flight III, and a modular larger competitor that can take on upgrades because PLAN's missiles are not as capable as USN's on paper. 055's size gives it more room for weapons and modifications. The entire incentive for developing 055 is different to Zumwalt. We'll probably see USN's next destroyer-cruiser design be more "conservative" looking. LSCs are totally different vessels. There's nothing wrong with AB design as it is. If they really wanted to upgrade the mast, they can do an MLU of the AB design without having to work with an expensive ground up version. Air defense if the main job for USN while the heavy hitting goes to carrier assets, they want numbers more than they want impressive looking ships.
The change in zumwalt as compared to AB isn't just stealth or IEPS, its the number of integral automation capabilities that allow a 15000 ton ship to be manned by just 150 sailors and officers. These capabilites cannot be installed to the AB during an MLU such as better mast integration optimisation for stealth, unless a complete strip down of all existing electrical components takes place. The upcoming LSC would lean away from the strategy involved for zumwalt ( fire support for coastal missions, hence, the use of railguns as cheap replacement for missiles) to a more anti surface, anti sub focused approach while using exisiting matured automation advantages being tested on zumwalt. Type 055 is same as zumwalt in the way that it too depends on relatively high capacity of automation ( as compared to other chinese platforms) and electronic sensor integration.
That is why i presume the next step for PLAN will be to gain in the integration systems and key hardware capabilities when designing successor to type 055 while the USN will use the same tech as zumwalt, albeit changing the strategy for its use.
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