052C/052D Class Destroyers

FORBIN said:

View attachment 44070

Click to expand...

This remains my favorite Type 052D picture to date by far:



Impressive vessel.

I know some people get down on it because it "only" has 64 VLS.

But remember two things.

1) The largest DDGs (or some call them FFGs) the Royal Navy, the french Navy and the Italian Navy has carry only 48 VLS.

2) The 24 missile FL-3000N launcher actually means the vessel has 88 missiles ready to launch...or if you want to call those smaller missiles the equivalent of "quad acked" VLS cells, then still it increases the number to 70 VLS cellls in that case.

Jeff Head said:

This remains my favorite Type 052D picture to date by far:

View attachment 44083

Impressive vessel.

I know some people get down on it because it "only" has 64 VLS.

But remember two things.

1) The largest DDGs (or some call them FFGs) the Royal Navy, the french Navy and the Italian Navy has carry only 48 VLS.

2) The 24 missile FL-3000N launcher actually means the vessel has 88 missiles ready to launch...or if you want to call those smaller missiles the equivalent of "quad acked" VLS cells, then still it increases the number to 70 VLS cellls in that case.

Click to expand...

I like it for being one of the few photos that show the CBRN wash-down system in action.

Jeff Head said:

This remains my favorite Type 052D picture to date by far

Click to expand...

IMO that angle makes it look short and fat. If I had to choose one image to represent the class it would probably be this one:

Jeff Head said:

I
But remember two things.

1) The largest DDGs (or some call them FFGs)

Click to expand...

I always felt that the line that separates a modern frigate and destroyer have blurred significantly over the years. And that applies equally so to frigates vs corvettes.
For example the Gepard despite its label as a frigate, is more towards a corvette in both weaponry and displacement, while the Admiral Gorshkov frigate is leaning more to the destroyer side than the frigate.
And it is funny, considering the fact that when the destroyer class was first conceived it was originally much smaller and less armed than a frigate.

Back on the main issue, while the Type 52D only has 64 VLS. One must remember that these VLS are of a different caliber than the Mk 48 that the Arleigh Burke uses. In fact I do not think that it is a far fetch claim to say that the Type 52D has the advantage in weapons quality over the Burke. The only real thing that it lacks against it is the fact that its Anti Air Missiles still has the nominal range of 200+ km, which can be easily rectified by designing a missile that takes advantage of the larger diameter of the VLS.

Would the Type 52D be the final iteration and the end of the Type 52 line ? For all intents and purposes it is clear that the PLAN is happy with it and the hull has been near upgraded to its limits. Would it be possible to see a Type 52E? Or the PLAN would just end the line where it is?

Viktor Jav said:

Would the Type 52D be the final iteration and the end of the Type 52 line ? For all intents and purposes it is clear that the PLAN is happy with it and the hull has been near upgraded to its limits. Would it be possible to see a Type 52E? Or the PLAN would just end the line where it is?

Click to expand...

Rumor is there will be a E in the future after new tech is tested out on the 55A first. So I would think another 10 years out. They are happy with D right now, which is why they ate mass producing them.

Viktor Jav said:

Back on the main issue, while the Type 52D only has 64 VLS.

One must remember that these VLS are of a different caliber than the Mk 48 that the Arleigh Burke uses. In fact I do not think that it is a far fetch claim to say that the Type 52D has the advantage in weapons quality over the Burke.

Click to expand...

I would not go that far.

We simply do not know with respect to the weaponry the PRC is using. We know a lot about what they tell us, but their testing and the results are not nearly s open, so we do not have the actual test data to refer to. I believe that the Type 052D is very good..but I personally do not believe that either the variations in weaponry, or the individual capability of the weapons are as strong as the USN weapons yet. When you take that real possibility and then take away 32 cells, I still believe that the Burke IIA vessels are stronger all around, particularly when you add a much stronger ASW capability.

This does not demean the Type 052D...as I said before, they have a larger weapons fit than many very good and capable western designs, and they would be considered a very strong threat against any vessel...uncliding the Burkes

Either way, they are very capable and any navy working out the OFOR scenarios against the Type 052D would be smart to not underestimate them in the least.

Viktor Jav said:

Would the Type 52D be the final iteration and the end of the Type 52 line ? For all intents and purposes it is clear that the PLAN is happy with it and the hull has been near upgraded to its limits. Would it be possible to see a Type 52E? Or the PLAN would just end the line where it is?

Click to expand...

Perhaps...a lot will deend on what they learn from the Type 055 and how much of that could be rerofitted, or perhaps even scaled down to fit a Type 052 hull.

We will just have to wait and see

Personally, I believe the Type 052D could be upgraded and continue in production for some time to come alongside the Type 055.

The Type 052D and its upgrades being like the Burkes are to the USN, and the Type 055s being what the Ticos have been to the USN to this date,

Time will tell.

No matter how you dice it, the combination of TYpe 052D + Type 055 is going to make for a very strong escort group for Chinese carriers and Amphib groups, and for very powerful SAGs for the Chinese wherever the need them.

It is now confirmed the 6th type 52 "Xiamen" was commissioned. So Urumqi is the 7th DDG commisssioned
The 6th Destroyer Type 052D admitted to active service, 154 Xia'men, is declared fit to fight.