055 DDG Large Destroyer Thread

[kwaigonegin]

I suspect if the Chinese do invest in a much larger surface combatants than the 052D, then it could only be justified by substantial additional functionality not available in the smaller 052D. It can't just be a larger ship carrying more of what 052D already carries. So I suspect it will have different, larger, higher powered AESA panels with significantly longer search and tracking range, as well as different, larger, much longer range SAMS to provide both an additional layer of defence outside the range of 052D, as well as possibly a ballistic missile defence capability.

agreed.. and I would like to add significant improvements in the ASW department as well. A better refined and sophisticated ASW suite, much better sonar and 2 ASW helos. With everyone and their grandma buying sophisticted diesel boats these days, anything less would do the ship and PLAN a huge disservice IMHO.

 

[Verum]

I feel that PLAN ships need more digitization than anything else. We have seen a lot of digitization over the last decade, but it's still not as much as those in the USN and other NATO navies. When watching documentaries about new ships of USN, whether it's large Arleigh Burkes or small LCS's, the bridge and control rooms are always packed with high tech servers and large displays. Then when looking at PLAN ships, even the latest and baddest 052C still has empty walls and small displays. This reflects a lot more than just less screen real estate, but also combat info gathering and datalink maturity. This indicates the USN ships can gather more intel and process it better, with more of its crews having instant access.

Another thing I noticed was the prevalence of analogue gauges and manual valves. Most of those things are digitized and automated in the NATO counterpart.

But since PLAN are building ships at a much higher rate than NATO, I'm sure this problem will be solved but future designs.

 

[Blitzo]

I feel that PLAN ships need more digitization than anything else. We have seen a lot of digitization over the last decade, but it's still not as much as those in the USN and other NATO navies. When watching documentaries about new ships of USN, whether it's large Arleigh Burkes or small LCS's, the bridge and control rooms are always packed with high tech servers and large displays. Then when looking at PLAN ships, even the latest and baddest 052C still has empty walls and small displays. This reflects a lot more than just less screen real estate, but also combat info gathering and datalink maturity. This indicates the USN ships can gather more intel and process it better, with more of its crews having instant access.

Another thing I noticed was the prevalence of analogue gauges and manual valves. Most of those things are digitized and automated in the NATO counterpart.

But since PLAN are building ships at a much higher rate than NATO, I'm sure this problem will be solved but future designs.

I'm not sure which documentaries or CCTV news reporst you've beeen watching, but all the recent ships (say, 052B onwards) have very digitized bridges and CICs.

 

[Blitzo]

Okay so this is a revision of my 055 proposal, this time with a roughly drawn plan view.

Basically the only major change is that the side mounted ciws stations have been changed so that both ciws will have bow and aft firing arcs, this is done by elevating one ciws station above the other, and moving the lower ciws station outboard on its own sponson akin to the Type 45.

 

[Verum]

I'm not sure which documentaries or CCTV news reporst you've beeen watching, but all the recent ships (say, 052B onwards) have very digitized bridges and CICs.

I'm not saying there isn't much, just saying it isn't enough. When you look at CIC rooms in the latest Arleigh Burkes, the walls are completely covered by displays. Even commander's bridge only have displays and windows, you can't see bare walls. I'm just saying PLA should improve in those areas.

Future warfare, especially naval battles are more sophisticated and are intel heavy. A few more lines of telemetry or weather info might decide victory and defeat.

 

[Blitzo]

I'm not saying there isn't much, just saying it isn't enough. When you look at CIC rooms in the latest Arleigh Burkes, the walls are completely covered by displays. Even commander's bridge only have displays and windows, you can't see bare walls. I'm just saying PLA should improve in those areas.

Future warfare, especially naval battles are more sophisticated and are intel heavy. A few more lines of telemetry or weather info might decide victory and defeat.

... Can you bring up any pictures to show? Because being "completely covered" by displays is not exactly an indication of how digitized, or advanced a particular ship is. Most modern CICs and control areas of a ship tend to have individual consoles or work stations that are multirole. "Large" displays that cover the walls may look impressive, but the magic happens at the individual consoles

For instance, even the zumwalt class's CIC looks more like an office space for a tv station than anything.

And it's not too different for european ships

Sure, older PLAN ships may have somewhat smaller screens and bulkier consoles, but the overall configuration isn't that different:

And more recent PLAN consoles feature far larger screens with more modern work stations, which again, is to be expected

As for the bridge, we have few pictures of bridges of major surface combatants for some reason, but here's a few of liaoning. As you can see, it's all very digitized and modern. No gauges in sight

 

[Blitzo]

And here's some pics of CICs of recent USN aegis destroyers or cruisers. Note the prevalence of multirole consoles for individual operators.

And for kicks, here's the engineering centre for the Liaoning. No gauges or analogue displays in sight.

 

[chuck731]

And for kicks, here's the engineering centre for the Liaoning. No gauges or analogue displays in sight.

I see some circular analogue gauges on the far wall in the right upper hand corner of the picture.

 

[kwaigonegin]

... Can you bring up any pictures to show? Because being "completely covered" by displays is not exactly an indication of how digitized, or advanced a particular ship is. Most modern CICs and control areas of a ship tend to have individual consoles or work stations that are multirole. "Large" displays that cover the walls may look impressive, but the magic happens at the individual consoles

For instance, even the zumwalt class's CIC looks more like an office space for a tv station than anything.

That's a mock up I believe but yes there is no doubt modern warship's CIC will be more 'office like'. The monitors looks to be regular off the shelf so I'm not sure if those will actually be on the actual CIC. For one they need to secure it otherwise when the ship is listing heavily or navigating through heavy sea states they'll be flying all over the place. Same with cable management.. if you have the wires going all over the place it'll be tripping hazard etc.
Shipmates also like to poke at the screens so if they mount those 'regular' monitors there better some sort of plexiglass enclosure covering it or just use monitors that are made for commercial or military use (like the stations you see in the European CIC) otherwise they won't last a week in naval ships.

 

[Blitzo]

I see some circular analogue gauges on the far wall in the right upper hand corner of the picture.

...

Barely any in sight, then. rofl sigh.