PLAN Sovremenny DDG 136, 137, 138 & 139 Thread
- Thread starter FarkTypeSoldier
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Seems like there would be a better fit of 24 forward and 24 aft if you ask me.
Not quite enough room forward for a full 32, particularly if they want to add the Sino-RAM launcher.
But forward of the hanger, and aft of the after rad-dome, in the back there is plenty of room for 24...and I believe 24 could fit forward too.
I don't think there's any room in the back, maybe 24 in front.
Why not? Current missile load is 24 fore and 24 aft
There's already dedicated space for 2 CIWS at the flank positions for the 052B, and I doubt they would add an HHQ-10 launcher to this setup for a ship of this size, so IMO that front area is plenty enough for 4 VLS modules arranged in the same orientation as the 054A VLS modules.
That 24 is in a tight drum configuration, so it's not necessarily possible to swap in 3 VLS modules in its place.
It's not really that tight. Russians managed to swap single-arm launcher with two drums for 24 cell VLS in their 11356, a significantly smaller ship.
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They swapped a one drum Shtil slant launcher with 24 missiles for 2 12-cell Shtil VLS launchers. However, the question isn't one of ship size but the geometry of the area, namely the fact that the rear Shtil launcher on the 052B is directly adjacent to the hangar and directly forward of the landing pad control room, both of which are constraints against lateral and rearward expansion if it became necessary. Is there enough room at that location to accommodate more than 2 HHQ-16 style 8-cell VLS modules? Nobody here knows.
There are actually two drums, one inside the other. Or it can be considered a single drum with two concentric rows of missiles. So it's not that compact drum at all.
And Jeff actually suggested that VLS could be moved - "But forward of the hanger, and aft of the after rad-dome, in the back there is plenty of room for 24", which I concur.
Actually if there are two concentric drums then it's even more compact than I thought. In any case the area forward of the hangar and aft of the aft radome is a possibility, though there is also the possibility this area impinges into the diesel engine room of the 052B or is otherwise unavailable because of unrelocatable equipment or rooms. Also, moving the VLS to this area even if available would require major surgery on the internals, vastly upping the cost of the refit, whereas using the previously available Shtil launcher space would require much less renovation.