055 DDG Large Destroyer Thread
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PIcs coming out from that one are higher res.
This one is really looking like the real thing:
There is a very well-done writeup on the Wiki page on the Type 346A which states it is a combination dual-band S/C radar, S for search and track, C for limited search and missile illumination. This does solve a problem I have had with this radar for a long time, namely how it terminally guides HHQ-9/A/B missiles which are SARH; S-band is unsuited for this purpose and there are no visible FCRs on the 052C/D.
Anyway, so in other words this guy is claiming there will be FOUR bands on the 055??? X, C, S, and VHF??? Assuming "replaced" means another newer version of the Yagi anti-stealth radar. If there will be an X-band radar on the main mast, then certainly there will be no "Type 346A" being installed, it would be a "346B" or something like that without the sandwiched C-band radar. If the 346A is in fact being installed, then there will be no X-band radar on the ship since it will be exactly duplicating the function of the C-band radar.
I just don't see which part of the 055 this section could possibly belong to. Above the 'crease' there are 2 levels. Below the crease there are 2.5, maybe 3 levels. Even if we accept Bltizo's conjecture that the amidships weather deck is actually an entire level higher, there is still the problem of not enough decks below the crease at that location on the 055. Amidships there should be 3.5 to 4 decks below the crease whereas at this cross-section in the photo you could at most squeeze out 3 decks, and probably not even, since ships are typically not completely rounded on the bottom but start flattening out. This also can't be the helicopter deckhouse for obvious reasons. This can't be the rear VLS section for obvious reasons. This can't be the bow or the forward VLS section for obvious reasons. This leaves you with the amidships section from forward of the rear VLS section to up to and including the main forward deckhouse. And like I said, every part of that area of the ship has 3.5 to 4 decks below the crease. To be honest, the latest photos don't even seem to show an obvious crease, or abrupt change in the exterior hull angle, at the level of the exposed cross section. I think this is another ship. It may not even be a warship at this point.
Good points from SAM.
Henri K is French as me
and lived several years in China.
Obviously i don' t say he get correct for all to 100 %.
Just for say to you, maybe he don' t speak Chinese but sure he understand... and in more he get Chinese documents...so he knows a little of what he speaks...
Henri K is French as me
and lived several years in China.Obviously i don' t say he get correct for all to 100 %.
Personally I think the best scenario for a 055 is a "346B" which completely eliminates the C-band radar, allowing more T/R modules to be devoted solely to S-band. The C-band functions would be taken over by an X-band 4-panel AESA on the main mast. Ideally there would be a VHF or even L-band early warning radar, but as I have said before I don't think the Wuhan model supports this setup given how we have seen whip antennas and a ?datalink right where the EW radar would most naturally be located.Good points from SAM.
Just for say to you, maybe he don' t speak Chinese but sure he understand... and in more he get Chinese documents...so he knows a little of what he speaks...
Henri K is French as me
Obviously i don' t say he get correct for all to 100 %.
Except that the hull is already curving inwards way before the added black portion, whereas in that new CG the hull barely curves at all until the black portion.
It could be the angle and the perspective that shows the curve better at one angle and perspective than at the other.
Time will tell. A LOT of chatter from some of the avid watchers are indicating that this one is it. As I have always stated...time will tell if it is or isn't. Given the amount of it, and given the people involved, I am leaning towards it after spending the last eleven years involved with the people we are talking about getting the info from.
We shall see.
I've actually wondered about the 346 and 346A relationship a little, and I think it may be possible that the S band and C band radar components of Type 346A have already been "separated" on the 052D.
The write up describes the C band radar component as two 0.2m x 4m array "strips" on the top and bottom of the larger S band array which has a diameter of 4m, making each C band array have a total area of 0.4 x 4m. But on the overall array for Type 346, it obviously has a rectangular shape, whereas on the Type 346A, it is square. Also important on the 052D which fields the Type 346A, is the presence of four rectangular "bars" above the main Type 346A arrays, and it's been mentioned before that they may be IFF arrays, but with the information about the Type 346 being a dual band radar, I now wonder if the rectangular bars above the main square Type 346A arrays may be the C band array components of the Type 346 -- they look about the right size for something about 0.4m x 4m in dimensions -- and that the main square array that we've been calling the Type 346A is dedicated to the entire S band array only.
Of course, this is only speculation on my part, and one reason why this idea may not be too viable is that the four rectangular arrays are placed around the deck house without major visible "backing" to them that would be suggestive of things like cooling, which would be expected for even a relatively small APAR.
But I will be watching the 055 closely to see whether it also has the rectangular arrays that 052D has... and if it doesn't have those rectangular arrays (and if it does have the expected X band APAR), then that may indicate something.
One problem with these photos is that they are always immensely and deliberately blurred, so some lines have their thickness exaggerated and some are reduced. Combine that with different photo taking locations, likely different photographers using different lenses, and different variation in deliberately self censorship, then the subjects are going to look a little bit different, photo by photo.
Now, I personally think the suspected hull module may have 3.5 decks below the crease; but obviously the blurriness and the angle of the photo makes clear distinction difficult.
Optimally we should have a fully clear photo from the immediate rear of the ship at a good distance to distinguish some of the details. But as it is, I think the hull is still definitely a viable (if not currently the most likely) contender to be 055.
Also, one way of tracking the "progress" of the ship, and to maintain that the ship is the some hull, is by checking some of the distinctive details. One of these details obviously is the weather deck which so far looks to be two decks high above the crease/main deck.
Another one of these is a small and obviously deliberately cut out "hole" in one of the deck levels in one of the more forward modules in the currently assembled hull. I often use this hole to orientate myself as to how far the overall hull has "moved" during the assembly process and also as a key marker to confirm that the ship is the same one I'm looking at. Of course, it is likely they will eventually seal up the hole later -- I believe it is a hole for the ship's torpedo tubes -- but by then we should have other better markers that can help us track the ship's progress, and possibly even to confirm or deny the ship's identity for good.
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