056 class FFL/corvette

Status
Not open for further replies.

hkbc

Junior Member
Huh, I did not expect that. Thought the 056A was considered too unsurvivable in a high intensity war with the US.

056As are meant to hunt and keep USN subs away from the coastline, under PLAN/PLAAF air cover, if they have to go unsupported, toe to toe, against a Burke in open water then some one wasn't doing their job!
 

Tam

Brigadier
Registered Member
Huh, I did not expect that. Thought the 056A was considered too unsurvivable in a high intensity war with the US.

They likely won't be considered high priority. Their stealth features, low profile, and small size won't make it easy to show up on radar either. If I were the opponent I would attempt to strike at the high value, high threat targets first; these small ships would be low priority and part of the mop up.

Lack of survivabilty isn't the reason why 056s are being turned over to the Chinese Coast Guard and not the 056A. Its the lack of both TAS and VDS on the 056 that hampers them for effective ASW work compared to the 056A. The 056 seems like a rare mistake for the PLAN. They must have originally planned to build a lot of them, but somewhere in the production, they realized a mistake, and quickly altered as much of the contracts as they can to change the ships for ASW work. However, a number of ships already have their steel cut and cannot be altered. These were allowed to proceed.

With the PLAN wanting to get more ASW frigates, this time on more 054A, its possible the surge in demand for 054A runs into conflict with the CCG's plans to acquire more ships, as both CCG ships and 054A are built using the same shipyards. So they may have internally worked out a solution. Instead of ordering more ships, the CCG gets twenty 056 from the PLAN, and the PLAN gets all the building shipyard slots it needs to make more 054A.
 

kentchang

Junior Member
Registered Member
They likely won't be considered high priority. Their stealth features, low profile, and small size won't make it easy to show up on radar either. If I were the opponent I would attempt to strike at the high value, high threat targets first; these small ships would be low priority and part of the mop up.

Lack of survivabilty isn't the reason why 056s are being turned over to the Chinese Coast Guard and not the 056A. Its the lack of both TAS and VDS on the 056 that hampers them for effective ASW work compared to the 056A. The 056 seems like a rare mistake for the PLAN. They must have originally planned to build a lot of them, but somewhere in the production, they realized a mistake, and quickly altered as much of the contracts as they can to change the ships for ASW work. However, a number of ships already have their steel cut and cannot be altered. These were allowed to proceed.

With the PLAN wanting to get more ASW frigates, this time on more 054A, its possible the surge in demand for 054A runs into conflict with the CCG's plans to acquire more ships, as both CCG ships and 054A are built using the same shipyards. So they may have internally worked out a solution. Instead of ordering more ships, the CCG gets twenty 056 from the PLAN, and the PLAN gets all the building shipyard slots it needs to make more 054A.

It is a very wise move politically. It is much better to patrol disputed areas using Coast Guard ships than naval ships. Doesn't hurt to have carry a huge bat either. It will be interesting to see what other countries will do with their future CG ships' armaments.
 

Tam

Brigadier
Registered Member
It is a very wise move politically. It is much better to patrol disputed areas using Coast Guard ships than naval ships. Doesn't hurt to have carry a huge bat either. It will be interesting to see what other countries will do with their future CG ships' armaments.

PLAN's new 054A surge means monopolizing Huangpu Wenchong's build slots. However, this denies the CCG from ordering larger ships built in that shipyard like the Type 818 cutter, which is almost like the coast guard version of the 054X hull. So there is a catch there. The CCG will have to find another shipbuilder, and that can mean delays if the new shipyard will go through the teething process of starting and ramping up production of ships that is new to them.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top