Re: PLAN submarines Thread II
- They both have a distinctive tear drop hull, far different than the prior Song class.
- They both have a similar beam and beam to length ratio.
- They both are of very decent displacement, larger than the Songs the PLAN built prior.
- They both have a similar arrangement of their six bow 533mm torpedo tubes.
- They both have a similar ridge, or hump, along their upper surface.
- They have similar sails in shape and size, though the Yuan has sail planes where the Kilo does not.
The Yuan has a similar aft arrangement of its control surfaces to the Song, and, a stated, the sail planes are on the Yuan (though the sails and sail planes are different than the Song).
All in all, I believe the PLAN took what they learned from the Song and particularly from the Kilos and improved the design significantly. I believe that their improvements rival those planned for the Russian Lada Class...except the PLAN made theirs work and has continued to improve the resulting class as they have built more and more. Whereas the initial Lada languished for several years with problems, and apparently is only now being built in series, with two more under construction.
Comparison pics of Yuan followed by Kilo and Song:
YUAN CLASSS
KILO CLASS
SONG CLASS
Well, it's because there are in fact quite a few very critical similarities.why would you compare Yuan with Kilo?, I see little (if any) similarities
- They both have a distinctive tear drop hull, far different than the prior Song class.
- They both have a similar beam and beam to length ratio.
- They both are of very decent displacement, larger than the Songs the PLAN built prior.
- They both have a similar arrangement of their six bow 533mm torpedo tubes.
- They both have a similar ridge, or hump, along their upper surface.
- They have similar sails in shape and size, though the Yuan has sail planes where the Kilo does not.
The Yuan has a similar aft arrangement of its control surfaces to the Song, and, a stated, the sail planes are on the Yuan (though the sails and sail planes are different than the Song).
All in all, I believe the PLAN took what they learned from the Song and particularly from the Kilos and improved the design significantly. I believe that their improvements rival those planned for the Russian Lada Class...except the PLAN made theirs work and has continued to improve the resulting class as they have built more and more. Whereas the initial Lada languished for several years with problems, and apparently is only now being built in series, with two more under construction.
Comparison pics of Yuan followed by Kilo and Song:
YUAN CLASSS
KILO CLASS
SONG CLASS