PLA Navy news, pics and videos
- Thread starter Jeff Head
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In theory a prop one can be made to rotate too, but I've long been convinced it's real
It's kind of amusing that they turned 730 into LD-3000 for land use, then they mounted it onto a ship.
Updated CG model of Zhong Da 79 in greater detail, made by Big Bun CG on Weibo.
plawolf
Lieutenant General
They can easily carry empty containers that can be jettisoned as needed. But it’s more hilarious if you think about the sheer scale of the shell game they could play.
Most of the main radar is well above the bridge, I think it can see 360 degrees.
plawolf
Lieutenant General
Another interesting design choice is that they opted to have the VLS in single stack containers with self erector mechanisms, as opposed to say, 4-5 times as many VLS cells in fixed virtual configuration in the same container footprint but with a triple vertical stack of containers as camouflage.
In the triple stack case, all they will need is the roof lifting mechanism (which they need anyways for the current single stack design) so the design would be far simpler and cheaper, you will have 4-5 times the VLS density; and it would look far more like a normal container ship. Indeed, if you wanted to do a sneak alpha strike, the triple stack container would have been a far superior option to maximise damage potential per ship while also maximising the disguise.
The main drawback of the triple stack design is that the weight of a triple stack plus all the missiles would require specialist cranes as opposed to basically any container rated crane for the single stack design. So we can glean a decent amount of what the designers value by the design choice taken.
I think one potential if not the main use for this is during tense times to put a couple of them each in commercial convoys rather than waste naval ships to escort them.
They do not need to travel faster than the convoy themselves, have better endurance, and can simply park outside territorial waters when visiting port.
Also this way you sprinkle naval presence around the world and can even make it hard for you opponent to supply themselves.
I predict antisubmarine modules and even helicopter drone fitted with dip sonars to be added to those kind of ships eventually.
They do not need to travel faster than the convoy themselves, have better endurance, and can simply park outside territorial waters when visiting port.
Also this way you sprinkle naval presence around the world and can even make it hard for you opponent to supply themselves.
I predict antisubmarine modules and even helicopter drone fitted with dip sonars to be added to those kind of ships eventually.
The new container missile ship remind me of the idea a decade ago doing the same thing using containers on trains.
If so the point is to creat a hidden ,spread out, fast reacting missile stockpile that can lunch within minutes of the order given,
giving PLA an attack option that can achieve total tactical surprise against Taiwan , sure the rest of the fleet and the army mobilization can't be a total surprise,the leave to big of a trail to not to be noticed. But having a surprise first strike option will alow PLA to hit's target that wasn't possible before , let see if how many of these ship will be fitted , I suspect it will be in the hundreds
If so the point is to creat a hidden ,spread out, fast reacting missile stockpile that can lunch within minutes of the order given,
giving PLA an attack option that can achieve total tactical surprise against Taiwan , sure the rest of the fleet and the army mobilization can't be a total surprise,the leave to big of a trail to not to be noticed. But having a surprise first strike option will alow PLA to hit's target that wasn't possible before , let see if how many of these ship will be fitted , I suspect it will be in the hundreds
The anti-air and ASW missions are separate, so there's no need to put everything on the same ship.
For ASW, that could be a single self-contained container trailing a Towed Array or Variable Depth Sonar, as long as it has clear space behind.
EDIT. When a 100-TEU containership only costs $1 Million, a TAS or VDS is probably more expensive than this.
So you can justify a single 100-TEU containership whose only job is to deploy this TAS or VDS.
Come to think of it, even smaller fishing boats can probably deploy a TAS or VDS
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