052C/052D Class Destroyers
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
Laserbeam from space was my first thought
They have been advertising the anti shipping capability for many many years. Its unlikely that its a particularly relevant capability for the PLAN.
First of all greetings to everyone because this is my first message.
It's an understatement to say that I'm impressed with the speed at which the PLA Navy is being built. Since 2014, the Chinese Navy has received 2 Type-052C destroyers, 32 Type-052D destroyers, and 8 Type-055 destroyers. And of course, additional destroyers are under construction. There are probably people who know the exact number of Type-052Ds in active service, but it appears to be 32. Last year, the PLA received 7 new Type-052Ds; Weinan (hull number 166), commissioned in March 2025, the Suzhou (hull number 158), commissioned in May 2025, the Cangzhou (hull number 125), commissioned on May 29, 2025, the Heze (hull number 126), commissioned in July 2025, and the Zhumadian (hull number 127), commissioned on July 27, 2025. These were followed at the end of the year by the Loudi (hull number 176), commissioned on November 5, 2025, and the Ganzi (hull number 128), commissioned on December 4, 2025.
In the same period of 2014, the US received 12 new Arleigh Burke class destroyers and 3 Zumwalt class destroyers. That's all. As for the Arleigh Burke class, 13 destroyers out of the total number already have more than 30 years of active service, while a total of 30 have more than 25 years of service. If I am not mistaken, the projected operating life is 35 years, although there is no doubt that it can be extended. This roughly means that China already has more destroyers than the US with less than 20 years of active service.
It's an understatement to say that I'm impressed with the speed at which the PLA Navy is being built. Since 2014, the Chinese Navy has received 2 Type-052C destroyers, 32 Type-052D destroyers, and 8 Type-055 destroyers. And of course, additional destroyers are under construction. There are probably people who know the exact number of Type-052Ds in active service, but it appears to be 32. Last year, the PLA received 7 new Type-052Ds; Weinan (hull number 166), commissioned in March 2025, the Suzhou (hull number 158), commissioned in May 2025, the Cangzhou (hull number 125), commissioned on May 29, 2025, the Heze (hull number 126), commissioned in July 2025, and the Zhumadian (hull number 127), commissioned on July 27, 2025. These were followed at the end of the year by the Loudi (hull number 176), commissioned on November 5, 2025, and the Ganzi (hull number 128), commissioned on December 4, 2025.
In the same period of 2014, the US received 12 new Arleigh Burke class destroyers and 3 Zumwalt class destroyers. That's all. As for the Arleigh Burke class, 13 destroyers out of the total number already have more than 30 years of active service, while a total of 30 have more than 25 years of service. If I am not mistaken, the projected operating life is 35 years, although there is no doubt that it can be extended. This roughly means that China already has more destroyers than the US with less than 20 years of active service.
It might also be CGT-28 (~30 MW at ISO conditions).
In the meantime, assuming that DDG-133 Baotou (i.e. one of the 3rd batch 052D DDGs) is equipped with 2x CGT-30s in place of the original 2x CGT-25, that would mean individual unit power output of ~33.5 MW, which is only about 2 MW shy of the LM2500+G4 (under ISO conditions).
Wait what's a CGT-28 again? Anyways the main speculation on CGT-30 is due to the fact that it is advertised to be able to directly replace GT-25000 without modification to the mounting system etc.