052C/052D Class Destroyers

Cool. After 117 Xining, this confirms that 119 Guiyang uses the floatation device decoys, or have those retrofitted. Not all 052Ds have them, these are first spotted on 117.

I am not referring to the decoy that was just launched. I am referring to the two large tubes at the bottom of the picture.

For an idea how floating decoys work, here is an example.

Two high-resolution images of 052Cs and Ds moored at Yulin Naval Base.

Nice shot. It shows here Frigate #500 belongs to the 9th Destroyer Division. Yet all the other four 054A with this division are 57X. There is no real order or structure in the frigate pennants and its all over the place. #500 is a member of the last batch of 054A with EW improvements.

None of the destroyers here have yet to feature the floating decoys seen with 117 and 119. Hopefully I can spot for more.

052DL (156 Zibo) and 052C (150 Changchun) side by side:

An extended-deck variant of 052D being fitted out.

Training exercise of the 36th Escort Task Force featuring 119 Guiyang.



Ship is equipped with floating decoys, see the large tube to the left of this picture.

Google translate:

“On a Type 052D destroyer, the 8 silos near the superstructure are for hot launch anti-ship missiles, the ones in front for cold launch anti-aircraft missiles for example. The VLS is of CCL type which supports two different types of launch.”


Any idea why the PLAN would make the choice of hot launch being closer to the superstructure?

Rachmaninov said:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1353245639442722816

Google translate:

“On a Type 052D destroyer, the 8 silos near the superstructure are for hot launch anti-ship missiles, the ones in front for cold launch anti-aircraft missiles for example. The VLS is of CCL type which supports two different types of launch.”


Any idea why the PLAN would make the choice of hot launch being closer to the superstructure?

Click to expand...

Probably so that if the cold launched missile failed to ignite after launch and happen to fall back on deck, it's less likely to blow up just in front of the superstructure. Remember, HHQ-9 is like twice the weight of Harpoon AShM, and more importantly they have the same warhead weight (~200 kg). You don't want that to blow up anywhere near.

Rachmaninov said:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1353245639442722816

Google translate:

“On a Type 052D destroyer, the 8 silos near the superstructure are for hot launch anti-ship missiles, the ones in front for cold launch anti-aircraft missiles for example. The VLS is of CCL type which supports two different types of launch.”


Any idea why the PLAN would make the choice of hot launch being closer to the superstructure?

Click to expand...

YJ-18 missiles are too long to put a gas bottle beneath it for a cold launch. Each of these missiles can be weighing about 2500kg each, and they figured it may be better for these missiles to be closer to the ship's center of gravity.

An HHQ-9 is about 1300kg already, nearly twice that of a Harpoon, which is about 600 to 700kg. By its own, its a huge missile, about as big or bigger than a Tomahawk. The YJ-18 is still nearly twice of that.

This is for the same reason why the UKSK launchers for the Kalibr missiles which weighs similarly to the YJ-18, are the ones that are closest to the bridge on both the Admiral Gorshkov and Admiral Grigorovich classes.