052/052B Class Destroyers

Tam said:

This is basically where I mean the VLS should go. One is behind the gun and the other is at the hanger and behind the radar as shown.

Since the raised part of the hanger has been removed from the right and moved to the center, we don't know if the mechanical ring and motor is retained for an HHQ-10 installation. It would be interesting if they choose to put two HQ-10 launchers instead, one at the front and one at the rear. But I get the feeling they would put a large SATCOM or two there instead on the top of the hanger and the front will get an HHQ-10 launcher. The SATCOMs seem very important for the PLAN and the back of the hanger has been a good spot for those as we have seen in other ships. One large SATCOM followed by a smaller SATCOM or datalink will be installed on the spine of the hanger like we have seen before on previous 052D.


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hkvaryag said:

It seems there is a VLS platform behind the hanger. There may be 16 VLS........
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blindsight said:

I kind of feel it's going to be one of the following two configurations:
a) 32 AKJ-16 cells forward plus 16 cells backward;
b) 16 cells on each side plus a HQ-10 launcher forward.

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Tam said:

More and more I feel like B is the one going forward. This ship may have been intended to have its top weight distributed between fore and aft and so requires placing the missiles in this manner. This characteristic extends to the 052C and D.

The next question now is whether it would use the same illuminators as the post 31st 054A, although the refit kits may already have been ordered prior to the introduction of the new illuminators.

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by78 said:

The state of 168 as it undergoes refit.

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blindsight said:

Yes, now I agree that option b is more likely. I guess they'll use the new illuminators.

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Tam said:

Hi blindsight,

Did you see this guy's CG of the 052B refit?

Notes:

He also placed an aft VLS behind the Type 364 radar and mast and ahead of the hanger. The VLS he placed is a 16 cell one. He completes the top of the hanger with an HHQ-10 launcher.

The front VLS he placed two sets of 16 cells. That's one set more than I envisioned. I don't know if the guy has seen more pictures of the 052B refit that didn't make it to Western social media or forums. He might have.

The new gun turret, is that the one we saw in the Zhuhai show?

The rest are logical suppositions, such as using the AESA illuminators from the new 054A batch and the two dual sided AESA radars. All are possibilities, though not guaranteed until we are absolutely sure they are installed.

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blindsight said:

I think that's just his personal preference. For example, he put two hangars in his model, but we've already seen the photo with the single hangar relocated to the center. Other than that, his model is quite close to my original idea: a 32-cell VLS on the front, a 16-cell VLS prior to the hangar, and a 24-cell HQ-10 launcher on top of the hangar. But some guys here said that's not very convenient to install the HQ-10 launcher that way, right? In that case, I would say the front VLS could have 16 cells so that the HQ-10 launcher could be moved to the front. But now I still think my original idea is actually doable. Who knows...

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