056 class FFL/corvette

Tam said:

The elevation of the Type 364 radar are also limited, as it doesn't scan vertically like phase arrays or planar arrays do. Its mainly meant for surface search, and will catch low flying targets collaterally like any 2D radar do. I never said that I am happy with this choice of radar, and actually I feel more like criticizing it. A full 3D search radar with vertical scanning that's a phase array or AESA can be available for this ship if the PLAN wants to, code named SR2410C, and its been installed on export Type 056s for Bangladesh. Its not as if the designers are unaware of it, they quite are, and probably wish the new radar to be installed on future PLAN Type 056s.

The radar rotates around 30 RPM. That's how fast it updates its picture. If you have a fast incoming target, that's won't be fast enough to track it accurately. This isn't the best type of radar for precise tracking against fast moving and close threats.

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To clarify from bad English construction, the Type 364 rotates around 30 RPM maximum.

plawolf said:

Interesting, I thought one of the key destinguishing differences between the HQ10 and FL3000 was the presence of the MMW radar on the bottom of the FL3000, which uses IR+MMW compared to the more advanced IIR used by the HQ10.

So this could mean that the PLAN is giving the FL3000 a try, or they changed the seeker for the HQ10 to also add a MMW radar seeking capability.

As already pointed out, the HQ10/FL3000 is a last line CIWS which would primarily be tasked with taking on sea skimmers.

Mounting the radar on the bottom would thus make far more sense than top mounting it, since the launcher would be at a higher altitude than pretty much all sea skimmers, and you do not want to be pointing your launcher down into the sea to get your radar LOS on the incoming missiles. Aiming the launcher higher would also give your missiles a lofted trajectory, helping with range somewhat.

Not mounting the radar flush with the launcher is probably due to missile launch back blast considerations, as radomes are generally delicate structures not well suited to taking repeated missile jet blasts full on in the face.

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To clarify, both FL-3000 and HQ-10 has horns, similar to the RIM-116. These horns are for homing in on emissions.




RIM-116




The missiles tend to differ more on their fin arrangement.

By MMW, that means the home in emission on one of the missiles is extended to 30GHz.

Its possible the HQ-10 has a more advanced IR seeker than the FL-3000N. Using IIR (Imaging Infrared) makes it much harder to decoy.

I think whats underneath the HQ-10 launcher is an air conditioning duct that leads to the seeker heads, the front of the launcher looks like a box intended to contain the cold air. It does not exclude that a millimeter wave radar can be hidden anywhere.

Tam said:

To clarify, both FL-3000 and HQ-10 has horns, similar to the RIM-116. These horns are for homing in on emissions.

RIM-116

The missiles tend to differ more on their fin arrangement.

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I would caution in automatically assuming that just because the SeaRAM has a certain feature, the HQ10/FL3000 would also have it.

In terms of operating principle, there is nothing stopping you using the horns for either passive home on emission or semi-active home on MMW illumination.

The HQ10 could have an IIR+passive home on emissions combined seeker, whereas the FL3000 might be using IR/IIR + MMW semi active combined seeker. And/or both missiles have both sets of seeker packages as potential choices.

Now obviously you have trade offs. Passive home on emissions would not work on IR/TV guided munitions, while semi-active seekers need continuous illumination so limits anti- saturation capabilities.

For a small ship like the 056, that is primarily designed to operate in the littorals, and which would not really have much chance of surviving a saturation attack in any case, I can see the attraction in choosing semi-active MMW over passive anti radiation. The littorals is where you are most likely to encounter small non-radiating AShMs. So you gain an important and operationally relevant redundancy secondary seeker while making sacrifices in an area you had no real hope in to start with, making the loss rather academic.

I think whats underneath the HQ-10 launcher is an air conditioning duct that leads to the seeker heads, the front of the launcher looks like a box intended to contain the cold air. It does not exclude that a millimeter wave radar can be hidden anywhere.

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Just how effective would such a small air conditioning unit be really as far as missiles are concerned when you typically use liquid nitrogen or similar to cool seekers?

Also, if it is an aircon unit, why does some HQ10/FL3000 launchers have them while others don’t? SeaRAM does not need such an aircon unit either. If you really need aircon, just adding a small tube internally in the legs and tapping into the ship’s primary radar and systems cooling system would be far more effective and efficient.

The cooling system at the back looks more consistent with what you could expect on a small stationary MMW radar to me in any case.

And yes, while you can place MMW radars anywhere, array size does correspond to range. Your less than 5meter range parking radar from cars is no use for missile targeting and guidance.

Short of adding dedicated illuminators which we cannot see on the 056, you are also going to need multiple large MMW arrays on the ship to give 360 coverage. That cost is just not justified for such a small ship with so few rounds, so mounting the MMW under the launcher does make the most sense.

Its not the size of the array, its how much power your can put on it. AAM and antiship missile seekers can achieve active homing terminal guidance 30km to 40km, and you have a pretty good idea how big the missile heads are. Gun radar used by the police to catch speeders are light enough to be hand held, and those carried by helicopters to catch speeders are also pretty small. This is far from 1 to 2 meters.

As for SeaRAM or RAM, this is how the launcher looks like. It also has this duct underneath the launcher.




The empty spaces between the tubes can be used to cool the missile tubes by passing through the frigid air.

SeaRAM has this duct underneath too.



This one is for the FL-3000N.





That space looks to me like you can put some cold air on it.

As for the use of liquid nitrogen, once AAMs are carried under the wings of the plane, there is no liquid nitrogen there. The missile needs to be cold as possible but after its out of storage, and goes to the wing, its going to get warmer.

On board the ship, missiles are going to be stored on the launcher for a while, and the launcher is going to be exposed to sunshine and warm air. That's not only going to affect the seekers, it will also shorten the missile's shelf life. The ref unit keeps the missiles under a controlled temperature, and the seekers at the coldest so they can be the more effective.

If the HQ-10 or FL-3000N has an RF SARH mode using millimeter wave radar, there needs to be a small phase array to act for illumination purposes.


Then you have these pictures.

My suspicion is that these pictures may be misinterpreted. In the first picture to the right, I think you are looking at the rear of the launcher, and the refrigeration unit is not installed, leaving the duct in place in the front.

In the second picture at the right, I am getting the feeling the duct on the front is missing and removed for some purpose. I don't think that HQ-10 on the Type 056 looked like any of the pictures to the right, and looked closer to the left.

Interesting concept for the new Russian corvette that willincorporate UAV for submarine hunting using 500 kg HAV

Russian Project 22160 Corvettes to be fitted with BPV-500 VTOL UAVs

POSTED ON MONDAY, 14 MAY 2018 18:57
Russian Project 22160 corvettes will be fitted with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for searching for submarines, and surveillance of surface vessels and shoreline. Also, UAVs will provide target designation to ship-based armament systems and, in the future, may be used for strike missions, the newspaper Izvestia reports.

BPV-500 VTOL UAV.

The Navy Commander-in-Chief’s directorate revealed to Izvestia that a modular unmanned aerial system (UAS) has been developed for Project 22160 corvettes and is now being prepared for trials. All the equipment, including the operator’s work station, is accommodated in one or two standard cargo containers that can be placed on deck of a ship.

The UAS suite includes two coaxially built BPV-500 helicopter type UAVs. A model of this UAV for the armed forces was displayed at the International Maritime Defense Show in 2017. Its tests started in the autumn of that year. The UAV takeoff weight is 500 kg, the body measures 5 m in length, the payload is 150 kg. The vehicle can remain in flight up to 5.5 hours and operate at a distance of 320 km from its carrier.

Russian Navy Corvette (local designation: large patrol ship) Project 22160 "Vasily Bykov" during the transition from LLC "Shipyard Zaliv" in Kerch to Novorossiysk for further testing. Picture taken on 03/03/2018 by Igor Aleksandrov (via forums.airbase.ru)

The system is designed for aerial monitoring of large areas, including for on-ice reconnaissance, support of search and rescue operations, patrolling, guarding and anti-terrorist missions. Over time, UAVs may be armed with missiles and bombs, which will enable them to perform combat duties. The coaxial design ensures the BPV-500’s higher hovering accuracy, making them less vulnerable to wind blasts, which is essential in landing onto a small ship. An optronic system and onboard radar are used for gathering information.

The data are transmitted to the ship in real time. UAV can operate in an autonomous mode (flying by a preset route) or controlled by an operator.

Project 22160 corvettes have a low radar signature. The specific feature of these ships is their modular design. However, due to their relatively small size and displacement, the corvettes have no hangar for aviation equipment. Normally they are fitted only with a landing pad on the stern. Therefore permanent basing of helicopters on them is impossible, which compromises their combat abilities. However, this problem can be resolved by using containerized UAVs.

Denis Fedutinov, an expert on UAVs, believes that in reconnaissance, drones can replace conventional helicopters on small displacement ships. "The use of such UAS on Project 22160 corvettes stems from the need to effectively gather information without risk to the crew. Thus a single ship can monitor a much larger water area," the expert noted

High res publicity photos.

by78 said:

Wouldn't a dedicated radar be better off mounted higher, as opposed underneath the launcher and in such a recessed manner?

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The HHQ-10 launcher does not have any dedicated fire control radar. These missiles work like RAM, and are cued by an external search radar (i.e. Type 364) to point in the direction of an incoming threat, after which the cap to one of the missiles pops off, the HHQ-10 acquires the target with its own seeker, then it launches at the target under its own guidance. It possibly could also be launched without initially acquiring the target with the hope of acquiring a target in-flight.

From Henri K blog. I guess China stop publishing ship launch but good Henri keep track Excellent close up photos of type 56 sub system and weapon

3 new Type 056 corvettes launched since the end of April




If the Type 056 corvette program seems to have had a short break in 2017, with only three vessels launched versus six to ten in previous years, the year 2018 obviously brings some momentum to the construction of this class of Chinese light warship, designed in part for the protection of the country's coast and maritime interests in its exclusive economic zones.

And as proof, five new hulls have been launched since the beginning of the year - if our monitoring is correct - including three since the end of April. The total number of Type 056 built so far would be 49, out of about 60 copies already ordered.

Of these five brand new corvettes, each displacing approximately 1,340 tonnes, two are built by Hudong Shipyard in Shanghai, two others by Liaonan Shipyard in northern China, and one at Huangpu Shipyard near Guangzhou in China. South. Only the shipyard Wuchang, one of the four production entities responsible for the construction of this class of ship, appears to have not yet launched Type 056 this year.

It will also be noted that the launch of the last Type 056, the 17th built in Shanghai and launched on May 16, was only two months apart from the previous one in the same shipyard. A pace never seen before.



For the moment, the exact versions of these five new buildings are unknown - the Type 056 class comes in two variants, the standard version bearing the same name, and the version dedicated to anti-submarine warfare called the Type 056A. But the trend observed in recent years still suggests that the ASW version would be preferred.

(cont)







The corvette ASW Type 056A (Photo: CCTV, 走近 哈佛)

It should be noted that since January 1, 2018, the Chinese naval industry has already launched at least 12 new warships for the Chinese navy, if we exclude submarine vessels that are kept secret.

In the near future, it is expected that two Type 055 destroyers will be launched simultaneously, each displacing more than 10,000 tonnes at the Dalian shipyard. In parallel, the construction of another lighter destroyer class, the Type 052D at around 6,000 tonnes, is still relevant.

Frigate level, the production of Type 054A ends after 30 copies whose arrangement of the last four is currently in progress. The preparation of his successor, electric propulsion this time and still designed by the Institute 701 CSIC group, is ongoing and the seed should see the light of day in two years.

Henri K.

12 ships launched ?

I count 8 from his blog what are the other 4

6th x Type 071 LPD 2018-01-20

8th Type 815A SIGINT 2018-02-03

4th Tug 6 000ton 2018-02-25

44th Type 056A ASW 2018-03-02

45th Type 056A ASW 2018-03-17

2nd Type 927 Catamaran Acoustic Measurement 2018-03-17

2nd Type 055 2018-04-29

4th Type 910 weapons test ship 2018-04-30