China receives 4 naval ships from Russia

I heard about this while skimming through Sing Tao Daily yesterday. I don't have any information on it, and hoped you guys had some...

I think it's probably the four Sovremmenys they bought from Russia.

Has the fourth Sovremenny been delivered yet? I know its been delayed because of a fire, but I thought it would have been delivered by now. They've had months to repair it. I looked on Sinodefence, and theres still no news on it. If the fourth ship has been delivered, that would be interesting, but as fromtheright said, you propably just heard about the Sovs being delivered.

DPRK, you're ahead of me. I only knew about the first two being delivered, didn't know the third had, I guessed the Sovs because that's the only order of four Russian ships that I know of. I haven't heard whether they're deployed yet, seems like I read in the Congressional Research Service report on the PLAN that crews were still being trained. I'm also wondering how much reverse engineering they plan to do on them to build their own as they seem to do on so many other systems/weapons.

Could it be four more Kilos?

fromtheright said:

I think it's probably the four Sovremmenys they bought from Russia.

Click to expand...

If so, would these ships be enough to take on some US ships? Just pure wonder, I don't know anything about the American Army except it's the most highly trained force.

LiLaZnMaGiCsCt said:

If so, would these ships be enough to take on some US ships? Just pure wonder, I don't know anything about the American Army except it's the most highly trained force.

Click to expand...

The Sovremenny class destroyer is a foremr Soviet Navy design from the 80's. The Ship itself is old, but still reliable. The Pentagon is particulary worked up about it, because the ships China aqquired are armed with the SS-N-22 sunburn, which flies at more than Mach 2, and is designed to penetrate the American Aegis system. Just one of these could send an Arleigh Burke destroyer to the bottom of the Taiwan strait. If one was armed with a nuclear warhead and fired at a U.S. carrier battle group - well put it this way - it would be the biggest loss inflicted on the U.S. navy since Pearl harbour. But the ship itself is still vulnerable to airstrike, which is why a carrier is so important for the PLAN to provide air cover. China so far has three of these - the third is an updated version - the fourth, as far as I know, still hasn't surfaced - there was a fire onboard so the Russians had to delay the order. Heres the Sinodefence article on it:



Fromtheright, the article should awnser your question - the third has been delivered, but the fourth still has yet to arrive, unless someone knows if it has. And the other Kilos were delivered ages ago, the last one hasn't arrived yet, although it doesn't seem clear when the others arrived or how many have actually been comissioned - according to this article, at least five of the extra 8 project636 kilos already have, giving them a total of nine subs altogether - although the other two that arrived may have been comissioned without us knowing about it:

DPRKPTboat said:

The Pentagon is particulary worked up about it, because the ships China aqquired are armed with the SS-N-22 sunburn, which flies at more than Mach 2, and is designed to penetrate the American Aegis system. Just one of these could send an Arleigh Burke destroyer to the bottom of the Taiwan strait.

Click to expand...

Could is the operative word. In theory a lot of ships should be able to do a lot of things - that doesn't always work out.

If one was armed with a nuclear warhead and fired at a U.S. carrier battle group - well put it this way - it would be the biggest loss inflicted on the U.S. navy since Pearl harbour.

Click to expand...

Well given that they aren't fitted with tactical naval nukes (does China even have such a thing?), that won't be a problem.

Of course the Sovremenny is a great asset for the PLAN that all the regional naval powers take seriously. It's just that we will never know its potential until it takes on a "worthy" foe.

FuManChu said:

Could is the operative word. In theory a lot of ships should be able to do a lot of things - that doesn't always work out.

Of course the Sovremenny is a great asset for the PLAN that all the regional naval powers take seriously. It's just that we will never know its potential until it takes on a "worthy" foe.

Click to expand...

You seem to think the Sov's are a big deal for the PLAN. They're not. The Sov's aren't even the PLAN's most impressive assets. They're just a stop-gap measure for China's domestically produced guided missile destroyers. Now those things, mass produced, firing swarms of YJ-62's, far dwarfs the combat capability of 4 purchased Sov's.

Back in 2001 or so, some people were making a big deal of China's Sov purchases, because that was when the PLAN started modernizing. Now looking back, this was just the tip of the iceberg.

FuManChu said:

Well given that they aren't fitted with tactical naval nukes (does China even have such a thing?), that won't be a problem.

Click to expand...

You should really do some research before saying something so silly. Of course China has tac nukes. Those are basic technology compared to the MIRV's that China deploys on its newest missiles.

They're just a stop-gap measure for China's domestically produced guided missile destroyers. Now those things, mass produced, firing swarms of YJ-62's, far dwarfs the combat capability of 4 purchased Sov's.[

Click to expand...

YJ-62s are reliable, but perhaps not quite as deadly as the Sunburns. Whereas an Aegis destroyer would probably have time to shoot one of those missiles down, they'd have little chance against a Sunburn. And so far only 2 Type 052C destroyers (I thought you were referring to them) have been reported built, China will soon have four Sovs, and may order more or reverse engineer them like fromtheright said. But I do agree that the PLAN does have better vessels than the Sov - they probably just needed a temporary helping hand from the Russians before they begin to build indigenous modern warships. But it may take a while before the type 052C and 051C are actually mass produced. But when they are, they'll probably replace the Russian vessels.

Roger604 said:

You seem to think the Sov's are a big deal for the PLAN. They're not.

Click to expand...

Where did I say they were the be-all and end-all? Of course China is seeking better things. But while the Russian ships are still required they are, obviously, important assets that the PLAN needs.

Of course China has tac nukes.

Click to expand...

I said tactical naval nukes - i.e. ready to fire from an existing ship, as was suggested earlier. You do understand the difference, right?

So, does China have those?