Blackstone
Brigadier
The Sovs might still be credible ships, but they look dated.
PLAN Sovremenny DDG 136, 137, 138 & 139 Thread
- Thread starter FarkTypeSoldier
- Start date
The Sovs might still be credible ships, but they look dated.
Well, they certainly are not as stealthy as newer vessels.
But those eight ASMs, the dual 130mm main gun, the ASW weapons and helo, and the MR Gadfly AAW missiles and short range Kashtan CIWS they do have...though perhaps not as good against a saturation attack...are still credible against most air attacks. All that means that they are serious combatants to be held in high regard.
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The Gadfly and Kashtan anti-air systems give the PLAN Sov 956EMs a credible layered defense against most air attacks, though a saturation attack can overwhelm them.
The eight powerful SSMs are something that any adversary will have to respect.
kwaigonegin
Colonel
Thinking out loud here but I wonder how much work it is to dismantle the single arm and the surrounding structure and replaced it entirely with a 64 or 48 cell VLS on both the fordeck and on back and mount another Kashtan forward of the bridge. That would make it a very formidable destroyer!
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FarkTypeSoldier
Junior Member
That would also mean adding in extra weight to the hull I supposed... plus the rewiring means the need to do an overhaul to the ship.
Also the budget would be tremendously high to refit the Chinese Sovs with VLS.
I would like the Sov to pair up with a 052D or 052C, make use of their radar and direct the Sovs to fire their Moskits missiles.
antiterror13
Brigadier
It is already very formidable anyway. Considering the extra cost & effort and the gain from VLS system, I don't think there is any chance even to think about that .... sorry
FarkTypeSoldier
Junior Member
That is why a pair up of 052C or 052D could compliment each other (quite) well.
Until 055 comes up, Chinese Sovs are a force to be reckon with. Even with 055 comes alongside with them, they are still formidable vessels.
My two cents.
FarkTypeSoldier
Junior Member
This is interesting... where did you find this?
thunderchief
Senior Member
It could be done, but is it cost effective ? Sovremenny-class was built around P-270 Moskit (3М80МВЕ version for China), everything else is secondary and somewhat obsolete today. So the main question is does China want to keep this missile as a main anti-ship weapon for let's say 10-15 years or they plan to rely on their own products. Considering recent developments, I would say that China prefers own weapons (even if they lag somewhat in some technologies) so IMHO they would not sink much money in improving Sovremenny-class . Instead, they would use them for few more years paired with other more capable ships (as already suggested here) and then gradually retire them .