PLAN Sovremenny DDG 136, 137, 138 & 139 Thread
- Thread starter FarkTypeSoldier
- Start date
My educated guess would by that the bow sonar will be roughly equivalent to MGK-335E/EM Platina found on Sovremenny destroyers.
The latest addition of a VDS on 056, 054A and 052D is most probably the Ukrainian Bronza-ME-Lugan'.
Ukraine offered to sell its Slava class Cruiser Ukraiyina but no taker. Russia only has some outdated, unused Sovs destroyer and Akula Subs for Sale.
Wonder if worthwhile for China to make some cheap offers and haul those back for remodel.
They still look pretty intimidating.
Once finished, put them in patrolling the South China Sea.
Wonder if worthwhile for China to make some cheap offers and haul those back for remodel.
They still look pretty intimidating.
Once finished, put them in patrolling the South China Sea.
The Slava could have been a good platform for the PLAN - 10 years ago. The large hull and the big space for the VLS complex amidship would do well when converted to the Universal VLS of the 052D. I bet they could have cramped in 96 cells instead of the original 64 rotary launchers. Those sixteen large Sandbox launchers also could be replaced by a literal crapload of smaller and more modern supersonic AShM like the YJ-18.
With its size, it could have become a true arsenal cruiser for the PLAN and core of the "Russian"-fleet of the PLAN, giving China some experience in operating cruiser-sized ships until the 055 is ready.
With its size, it could have become a true arsenal cruiser for the PLAN and core of the "Russian"-fleet of the PLAN, giving China some experience in operating cruiser-sized ships until the 055 is ready.
MwRYum
Major
If only they were sold at scrap value, otherwise it'd be a really bad investment - as you should understand, pretty much everything else except the hull will have to go in such a scenario. As such, the final cost per ship (with all those rebuild) could easily be a few folds more than building a new 055.
But even at scrap value, such investment will still be a questionable one at best. The Project 965 could just simply hit the major overhaul cycle, nothing more.
plawolf
Lieutenant General
The PLAN is only modernising its Sovs because they already bought them, and paid a lot for them. As such, they could not justify scrapping them early, and decided it was best to invest a fair amount more cash to bring those DDGs up to date and fully compatible with the rest of the Chinese fleet and other forces, especially in terms of datalinks, communications, sensors and weapons systems.
That will not only boost the raw capabilities of the Sovs, but will also make them able to better integrate with other Chinese assets, and should also cut training and logistics costs in the longer run. Thus making them far more valuable to the PLAN so they can get the most out of that investment.
Given the comprehensive nature of the upgrades, I doubt they will be cheap or easy to do. So I seriously doubt the PLAN would be keen to do that all over again even if someone were to offer additional unused Sovs at scrap value.
Given China's shipbuilding capabilities today, they would much rather just use that time and money to build more of their current and future designs like 052Ds and 055s.
That will not only boost the raw capabilities of the Sovs, but will also make them able to better integrate with other Chinese assets, and should also cut training and logistics costs in the longer run. Thus making them far more valuable to the PLAN so they can get the most out of that investment.
Given the comprehensive nature of the upgrades, I doubt they will be cheap or easy to do. So I seriously doubt the PLAN would be keen to do that all over again even if someone were to offer additional unused Sovs at scrap value.
Given China's shipbuilding capabilities today, they would much rather just use that time and money to build more of their current and future designs like 052Ds and 055s.
Well said, wolf.
The key here will be to allow those four large (and capable) vessels to more fully and seamlessly integrate into the rest of the PLAN.
They were purchased at a time before the PLAN was at a point to be able to produce vessels of their own of that size and complexity.
Now the PLAN can...in fact, now the PLAN is producing better vessels of its won.
But the SOVs have a lot of life left in their hulls and they are solid enough to make refitting them to better integrate with the new PLAN vessels makes more sense than discarding them.
So that is what they are doing and as I sated earlier...I am excited to see what all they do.
Before and after exactly it.
Notice also the major RCS improvement.
VLS for 64 missiles, HQ-16 ? the 4 modernized ?
plawolf
Lieutenant General
The caption in the picture says 16 cell VLS at the front, with another 48 cells at the back, giving 64 cells in total.
Could be old style HQ16 cells, but would make a lot more sense to install the new universal cells in my view.
It seems to be keeping the deck top AShM launchers up front, but mostly covered now, with an opening to vent exhaust when launching.
Looks reasonable enough. How reliable is the source of this?