Nice. These are the first official pictures of 123 Huainan we have seen.
Plus the video of the event.
Plus the video of the event.
052C/052D Class Destroyers
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
Hendrik_2000
Lieutenant General
Here is extract from GT
PLA commissions upgraded destroyer, naval drills show
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Published: Mar 02, 2021 07:33 PM
The guided-missile destroyer Qiqihar (Hull 121) attached to the navy under the PLA Northern Theater Command fires its main gun at mock sea targets during a maritime live-fire training exercise in mid December, 2020. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Zhang Hailong)
A newly commissioned, upgraded variation of the Type 052D destroyer recently made its public debut in a series of maritime exercises by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, and analysts said more warships of this class are expected to join the service soon.
In the video released with the CNR report, a warship identified as an upgraded variation of the Type 052D guided missile destroyer and painted with hull number 123 was seen for the first time, military observers said, noting that this indicates this new ship has been commissioned into the PLA Navy.
Compared with the original Type 052D, the upgraded version, often informally dubbed the Type 052DL, has an extended helicopter flight deck and is equipped with a new anti-stealth radar.
The CNR report did not give further details on the ship like its name. Observers said it is likely the Huainan, the namesake of a city in East China's Anhui Province.
Replying to an inquiry by a resident on the naming of the Huainan, the local veterans affairs office confirmed in September 2020 on its website that the PLA Northern Theater Command was naming a new-type guided missile destroyer as the Huainan, without explaining the exact type of the ship.
On February 11, the Huainan Daily released a video showing crew members of the Huainan extending Spring Festival greetings to people in the city. The video shows that the Huainan is a Type 052D destroyer, and indicated that the warship was commissioned into the PLA Navy before the report date, analysts said.
The PLA Navy's official Sina Weibo account also released a video on February 11 mentioning a warship named after Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, without elaboration or footage on the ship that makes its type identifiable. Analysts speculate that the Suzhou is also a newly commissioned destroyer, citing the PLA's naval vessels naming regulation.
China has launched many new destroyers over the past few years that are gradually entering naval service, a military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Tuesday.
All you need now is to confirm 162 Nanning with the South China Seas fleet under the 2nd Destroyer Division in Zhanjiang. We already have seen pictures of unmarked 052DL detached to the SCS. It is likely to be this ship. All we need is to confirm the 162 pennant painted on it.
Cool pic by by78 at the PLAN Fleet Supply Ship thread. Shows what's likely to be 175 refueling from 967 AOE, which is a Type 901.
Its a cool scene as it is sharp enough to notice the details at the back of 175. You can see the door for the VDS, with a small port for the TAS. There is another port to the left that is for the towed anti-torpedo decoy.
Its a cool scene as it is sharp enough to notice the details at the back of 175. You can see the door for the VDS, with a small port for the TAS. There is another port to the left that is for the towed anti-torpedo decoy.
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An impressive compilation of anti-submarine sonars, in comparison the Flight IIA Arleigh Burke only have the SQS-53C bow sonar. Sadly I don't think the type 052D are equipped with rocket-propulsed torpedoes so they're solely limited to onboard ASW capability from the HELO and mounted torpedoes.
Yes, very impressive. However, the Arleigh Burkes have had a towed array sonar since the first FLI variant. The newer ships got an updated one, which is quite interesting as its both a passive and active sensor. Look up TB-37U MFTA
Considering the 052D is equipped with a universal VLS that's specifically designed to be the PLAN's standard VLS, and considering the 054A's older, much smaller VLS is equipped with Yu-8, I would say it's very much just a matter of time for the 052D (and 055) to be integrated with a VL ASROC type weapon, if it isn't already.
If anything, the fact that we have only seen HHQ-9 and YJ-18 visibly photographed as being fired from the universal VLS on 052D and 055 is very, very suspicious.
If I were the PLAN, I wouldn't exactly be tripping over myself to reveal whatever new missiles that have been integrated onto my ships, especially given it's quite easy to keep it close to their chest as we can't see what payloads are in a VLS once it's loaded with a canister and we can't tell what kind of weapon is inside a canister if we happened to see a canister to begin with.
The SQR-19 was removed with Flight IIA. It seems that AN/SQR-20 /MTFA is not a class-wide upgrade but only for some deployed units. But yeah you're right the USN isn't left empty-handed.
It might just be a question of ressources, time or shedule with new weapon systems being introduced in the PLAN arsenal. Also after all, if the PLAN was really interested in the integration of the Yu-8 and alike ont the type 052D platform, they would have probably already deployed it as early as YJ-18 or HHQ-9.
Speaking of that, follong Henri-k publications on his site, we've seen quite ''''a lot'''' of different, unidentified missiles being fired from type 052D ships.
