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This Is What a Real Naval Buildup Looks Like
China’s is building destroyers faster than even the mighty U.S. Navy.
By Kyle Mizokami
Jun 6, 2018
Recent photos from a shipyard in China sum up the news about Beijing’s navy: it’s growing, and fast. The sight of five brand-new guided missile destroyers shows China’s determination to field a fully modern navy to rival—or perhaps someday best—the U.S. Navy.
Foreground: 2 Type 052D destroyers. Perpendicular to them, in the water, is a third Type 052D. Farther away with the pyramid masts are two Type 055 destroyers.
The photos, posted online by China Defense Blog, were taken at the Dalian Shipyard in northern China. (To get there, take a flight to Dalian, get on Dongbei Road, and make a right at the Dalian IKEA onto Shugang Road. It’ll take you right to the shipyard.) Dalian is one of China’s most important shipyards, and was responsible for the renovation of China’s first aircraft carrier, Liaoning, from a rusting, incomplete hull to deployable ship, and China’s first indigenous carrier, Type 002, visible half a mile east here.
The photos show five destroyers: three Type 052D Luyang III and two Type 055 Renhaiguided missile destroyers fitting out for service in the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The Type 052D and Type 055 destroyers are China’s most modern designs. The unnamed ships have been hanging out at Dalian for the better part of a year. In the Google Maps satellite photos, the two ships side by side in the shipyard—the two Type 055s—appear still under construction with various parts of the superstructure missing. In the China Defense Blog photos, both ships appear complete, at least from the outside. Also in the satellite photos the Type 052D in drydock has floated out and a second Type 052D has changed position.
Type 052D destroyer Hefei, St. Petersburg, Russia, July 2017.
GETTY IMAGES
The Type 052D Luyang IIIs first began construction in 2011. The 052Ds are 505 feet long, displace 7,000 tons, and have a top speed of 29 knots. The destroyers were designed as “air warfare” ships, designed to protect high value PLAN assets—like the carriers Liaoning, Type 002, or Type 071 amphibious transports—from air and missile attack. Each has four Type 346A phased array radars, a Knife Rest air search radar, two target illumination radars, and sixty vertical launch missile silos for surface to air missiles, anti-ship missiles, land attack cruise missiles, and anti-submarine weapons.
Type 055 destroyer at launching ceremony, 2017.
CHINESE INTERNET
The Type 055 Renhai destroyers are the largest surface combatants built in Asia since World War II. The Type 055s are similar to the Type 052Ds only larger and more capable. The new destroyers are 590 feet long and displace 13,000 tons, and have four Type 346X radars and between 112 and 128 vertical launch silos.
By comparison the U.S. Navy’s Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are 508 feet long but displace 9,500 tons, making them much heavier than the Type 052Ds. The Burkes are faster, capable of speeds up to 31.6 knots. The most numerous type of destroyer in USN service, the Flight IIAs have the SPY-1D(V) radar controlled by the Aegis Combat System, plus three target illuminators and 96 missile silos.
The Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Fitzgerald.
GETTY IMAGES
China’s warship production has run at a breakneck pace for the better part of a decade and spans several shipyards, including Dalian. China laid down the hull of the first Type 052D destroyer in 2012; four years later, Jane’s reported seven Type 052Ds under construction at once. As of June 2017, there were thirteen Type 052Ds in service or under construction. Meanwhile, The Diplomat reports six Type 055s in various stages of production. That makes 19 destroyers in six years, or an average of just over three a year.
In other words, in six years China began construction on three times more destroyers than in the ranks of the entire Royal Navy. Meanwhile, during the same time period the the U.S. Navy began construction on three Zumwalt-class destroyers and up to eight Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, for a total of 11. We don’t know how good (or bad) China’s new destroyers are, or even how many they eventually plan to build. We do know Beijing likes its current ships enough to mass produce them, and it is out-producing the U.S. Navy.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a21086031/china-naval-build-up/
China’s is building destroyers faster than even the mighty U.S. Navy.
By Kyle Mizokami
Jun 6, 2018
Recent photos from a shipyard in China sum up the news about Beijing’s navy: it’s growing, and fast. The sight of five brand-new guided missile destroyers shows China’s determination to field a fully modern navy to rival—or perhaps someday best—the U.S. Navy.
Foreground: 2 Type 052D destroyers. Perpendicular to them, in the water, is a third Type 052D. Farther away with the pyramid masts are two Type 055 destroyers.
The photos, posted online by China Defense Blog, were taken at the Dalian Shipyard in northern China. (To get there, take a flight to Dalian, get on Dongbei Road, and make a right at the Dalian IKEA onto Shugang Road. It’ll take you right to the shipyard.) Dalian is one of China’s most important shipyards, and was responsible for the renovation of China’s first aircraft carrier, Liaoning, from a rusting, incomplete hull to deployable ship, and China’s first indigenous carrier, Type 002, visible half a mile east here.
The photos show five destroyers: three Type 052D Luyang III and two Type 055 Renhaiguided missile destroyers fitting out for service in the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The Type 052D and Type 055 destroyers are China’s most modern designs. The unnamed ships have been hanging out at Dalian for the better part of a year. In the Google Maps satellite photos, the two ships side by side in the shipyard—the two Type 055s—appear still under construction with various parts of the superstructure missing. In the China Defense Blog photos, both ships appear complete, at least from the outside. Also in the satellite photos the Type 052D in drydock has floated out and a second Type 052D has changed position.
Type 052D destroyer Hefei, St. Petersburg, Russia, July 2017.
GETTY IMAGES
The Type 052D Luyang IIIs first began construction in 2011. The 052Ds are 505 feet long, displace 7,000 tons, and have a top speed of 29 knots. The destroyers were designed as “air warfare” ships, designed to protect high value PLAN assets—like the carriers Liaoning, Type 002, or Type 071 amphibious transports—from air and missile attack. Each has four Type 346A phased array radars, a Knife Rest air search radar, two target illumination radars, and sixty vertical launch missile silos for surface to air missiles, anti-ship missiles, land attack cruise missiles, and anti-submarine weapons.
Type 055 destroyer at launching ceremony, 2017.
CHINESE INTERNET
The Type 055 Renhai destroyers are the largest surface combatants built in Asia since World War II. The Type 055s are similar to the Type 052Ds only larger and more capable. The new destroyers are 590 feet long and displace 13,000 tons, and have four Type 346X radars and between 112 and 128 vertical launch silos.
By comparison the U.S. Navy’s Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are 508 feet long but displace 9,500 tons, making them much heavier than the Type 052Ds. The Burkes are faster, capable of speeds up to 31.6 knots. The most numerous type of destroyer in USN service, the Flight IIAs have the SPY-1D(V) radar controlled by the Aegis Combat System, plus three target illuminators and 96 missile silos.
The Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Fitzgerald.
GETTY IMAGES
China’s warship production has run at a breakneck pace for the better part of a decade and spans several shipyards, including Dalian. China laid down the hull of the first Type 052D destroyer in 2012; four years later, Jane’s reported seven Type 052Ds under construction at once. As of June 2017, there were thirteen Type 052Ds in service or under construction. Meanwhile, The Diplomat reports six Type 055s in various stages of production. That makes 19 destroyers in six years, or an average of just over three a year.
In other words, in six years China began construction on three times more destroyers than in the ranks of the entire Royal Navy. Meanwhile, during the same time period the the U.S. Navy began construction on three Zumwalt-class destroyers and up to eight Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, for a total of 11. We don’t know how good (or bad) China’s new destroyers are, or even how many they eventually plan to build. We do know Beijing likes its current ships enough to mass produce them, and it is out-producing the U.S. Navy.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a21086031/china-naval-build-up/
