Just how advanced are the warships China is building for Pakistan?

[INDIAPOSITIVE]

On Tuesday, there were a flurry of reports that China has started construction of the first of four warships for Pakistan, which state-owned media in China described as being the “most advanced”.

China Daily quoted China State Shipbuilding Corporation as saying the four new frigates would be capable of anti-ship, anti-submarine and air-defence roles. The ships being built at the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai were described by the Pakistan Navy as belonging to the 'Type-054AP' class. The designation suggests the ships are derived from the Type-054 class of frigates, nearly 30 of which have entered service in China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in recent years.

Jane's Defence Weekly, an authoritative source of military news, has reported all four Type-054AP ships will be delivered to the Pakistan Navy by 2021. Given the claims made by the Chinese officials, interest has increased in scrutinising the capabilities of the new Pakistan Navy ships.

The Type-054A is roughly the same size as the Indian Navy's existing Talwar class of frigates, purchased from Russia. Both classes, designed the 1990s, have features to reduce their radar and infra-red signatures.

The Type-054A and Talwar class displace approximately 4,000 tonnes and have a length of around 130 metres. The Type-054A uses a surface-to-air missile system called the HQ-16, which experts claim is derived from the Russian Shtil missile, on service on the Talwar class frigates. Interestingly, Russia had sold the Shtil missile to China in the late 1990s. The Shtil has a maximum range of about 50km.

However, the Type-054A has an advantage over the existing Talwar class ships as the former use a vertical launch system (VLS), which is buried in the ship's deck, to store and fire its HQ-16. The Indian Navy's Talwar class frigates use an older 'single-arm' launcher than can fire only one missile at a time, while the VLS allows the launch of multiple missiles simultaneously.

The HQ-16, which relies on 'passive' radar homing to detect targets, is considered inferior to the new Indo-Israeli Barak-8 missile entering service on new Indian Navy frigates and destroyers. Furthermore, India is also buying four upgraded Talwar class frigates from Russia that is expected to have VLS for surface-to-air missiles. The Talwar class ships, which use the supersonic Klub and Brahmos missiles, are regarded to have better anti-ship capabilities than the PLAN Type-054A class, which still use subsonic weapons. It is yet unclear what anti-ship missiles Pakistan will use.

The China Daily report quoted Cao Weidong, an expert, as saying the Pakistan Navy was expected to order Chinese-origin sensors and weapons for its new frigates unlike in the past, when Islamabad would mount Western-origin systems on ships purchased from China.

The Type-054A class ships have been considered by experts to be the 'workhorses' of the rapidly modernising PLAN. Their anti-air and anti-ship capabilities are more limited than the systems present on China's new destroyer classes. The relatively small size of the Type-054AP frigates means there is little scope to mount heavier radars and longer-range anti-aircraft or anti-ship weapons.

In addition, the Pakistan Navy continues its reliance on submarines as the main means to deter India; Islamabad signed a deal to buy eight submarines from China in 2015. These submarines are expected to remain the main threat to Indian ships and could also serve as more survivable platforms to launch land-attack cruise missiles.

In conclusion, while the new Type-054AP frigates will be the most capable ships in the Pakistan Navy, they are not expected to significantly alter the balance of power in the region, given Pakistan's limitations in airborne anti-submarine capabilities. It can be argued that the bigger threat posed by the Type-054AP frigates is the fact that the new ships will draw Pakistan closer to China at a time when there is growing worry about a military dimension to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.


https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2019/01/04/advanced-warships-china-pakistan.html

 

[Super Falcon]

We need dedicated air defence ships to counter indian aircraft carriers

 

[Pakhtoon yum]

On Tuesday, there were a flurry of reports that China has started construction of the first of four warships for Pakistan, which state-owned media in China described as being the “most advanced”.

China Daily quoted China State Shipbuilding Corporation as saying the four new frigates would be capable of anti-ship, anti-submarine and air-defence roles. The ships being built at the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai were described by the Pakistan Navy as belonging to the 'Type-054AP' class. The designation suggests the ships are derived from the Type-054 class of frigates, nearly 30 of which have entered service in China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in recent years.

Jane's Defence Weekly, an authoritative source of military news, has reported all four Type-054AP ships will be delivered to the Pakistan Navy by 2021. Given the claims made by the Chinese officials, interest has increased in scrutinising the capabilities of the new Pakistan Navy ships.

The Type-054A is roughly the same size as the Indian Navy's existing Talwar class of frigates, purchased from Russia. Both classes, designed the 1990s, have features to reduce their radar and infra-red signatures.

The Type-054A and Talwar class displace approximately 4,000 tonnes and have a length of around 130 metres. The Type-054A uses a surface-to-air missile system called the HQ-16, which experts claim is derived from the Russian Shtil missile, on service on the Talwar class frigates. Interestingly, Russia had sold the Shtil missile to China in the late 1990s. The Shtil has a maximum range of about 50km.

However, the Type-054A has an advantage over the existing Talwar class ships as the former use a vertical launch system (VLS), which is buried in the ship's deck, to store and fire its HQ-16. The Indian Navy's Talwar class frigates use an older 'single-arm' launcher than can fire only one missile at a time, while the VLS allows the launch of multiple missiles simultaneously.

The HQ-16, which relies on 'passive' radar homing to detect targets, is considered inferior to the new Indo-Israeli Barak-8 missile entering service on new Indian Navy frigates and destroyers. Furthermore, India is also buying four upgraded Talwar class frigates from Russia that is expected to have VLS for surface-to-air missiles. The Talwar class ships, which use the supersonic Klub and Brahmos missiles, are regarded to have better anti-ship capabilities than the PLAN Type-054A class, which still use subsonic weapons. It is yet unclear what anti-ship missiles Pakistan will use.

The China Daily report quoted Cao Weidong, an expert, as saying the Pakistan Navy was expected to order Chinese-origin sensors and weapons for its new frigates unlike in the past, when Islamabad would mount Western-origin systems on ships purchased from China.

The Type-054A class ships have been considered by experts to be the 'workhorses' of the rapidly modernising PLAN. Their anti-air and anti-ship capabilities are more limited than the systems present on China's new destroyer classes. The relatively small size of the Type-054AP frigates means there is little scope to mount heavier radars and longer-range anti-aircraft or anti-ship weapons.

In addition, the Pakistan Navy continues its reliance on submarines as the main means to deter India; Islamabad signed a deal to buy eight submarines from China in 2015. These submarines are expected to remain the main threat to Indian ships and could also serve as more survivable platforms to launch land-attack cruise missiles.

In conclusion, while the new Type-054AP frigates will be the most capable ships in the Pakistan Navy, they are not expected to significantly alter the balance of power in the region, given Pakistan's limitations in airborne anti-submarine capabilities. It can be argued that the bigger threat posed by the Type-054AP frigates is the fact that the new ships will draw Pakistan closer to China at a time when there is growing worry about a military dimension to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.


https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2019/01/04/advanced-warships-china-pakistan.html

No one waste their time reading this, I'll summarize.

1. Chinese ships along with armament is a copy of old Russian technology.
2. India has the best technology in the world and these are outdated ships

 

[Tshering22]

The Indian Navy's Talwar class frigates use an older 'single-arm' launcher than can fire only one missile at a time, while the VLS allows the launch of multiple missiles simultaneously.

This really doesn't seem to be an obstacle of any sort. Given the modular design of the ship, it will be easy for Shipbuilding Center to phase it out and replace it with a VLS launch system.

 

[maximuswarrior]

No one waste their time reading this, I'll summarize.

1. Chinese ships along with armament is a copy of old Russian technology.
2. India has the best technology in the world and these are outdated ships

Thanks for the recap. Saved me tons of time.

 

[faithfulguy]

No one waste their time reading this, I'll summarize.

1. Chinese ships along with armament is a copy of old Russian technology.
2. India has the best technology in the world and these are outdated ships

Indians are experts are these self comforting articles. Whenever others do something, it’s excused as no big deal. And of course Indians will incessantly brag about its own system. But not surprised given India made a Supa Powa movie.

 

[randomradio]

Just to add to the article, the first 3 Talwar class ships will also get Brahmos and VLS Shtils.

 

[GumNaam]

No one waste their time reading this, I'll summarize.

1. Chinese ships along with armament is a copy of old Russian technology.
2. India has the best technology in the world and these are outdated ships
3. vedic tikinalagy bached vipan chychtams can distray China and the varlad.

adding 3.

 

[Mrc]

We need dedicated air defence ships to counter indian aircraft carriers

We need to be able to sink them wherever they are with first shots of war

 

[Pakhtoon yum]

adding 3.

I like it

Thanks for the recap. Saved me tons of time.

I read that at like 3am in the morning here. I felt like shooting myself, if I'm being honest

 

[Mrc]

Arent these chinese ships facing off us navy in south china sea??

 

[Super Falcon]

We need to be able to sink them wherever they are with first shots of war

But air cover we need so far our navy dont have good air defence ships

 

[khail007]

So ... Indians are still superior in the world even by having 3 decades old ships - the world should learn from India how to modernise the military equipment without any spending - A DIY guide.

 

[IceCold]

when your enemy starts talking about it and its capabilities, it means they are feeling the heat. PN was the most neglected arm of the three but now its getting the much needed attention and we are slowly but gradually catching up.

 

[Arsalan 345]

some good points but again comparing our frigate with talwar class is a bit too early.modernization of china is rapid and in coming years, we can see more warships and submarines.i don't think that pakistan needs to worry about india because cpec adds another dimension and it's the presence of chinese vessels in indian ocean.pakistan navy can't be compared to indian navy.indian navy have to protect much bigger coast line than ours that's why they have large number of vessels.russian weapons are capable to destroy anything and russian vessels which india is currently using are dangerous for pakistan but we only have to protect a smaller coast unlike india.india also monitoring chinese activity in indian ocean so i think it's not fair to compare pakistani frigates with indians and other things like brahmos.we all know brahmos is a fantastic missile but the way china is modernizing it's armed forces is superb and that can only help pakistan in the long run.there are reports that china have already made new generation of weapons.we can easily get anything from china but for russia and india,it's all about huge amount of money so again china pakistan friendship will make new paths for new types of weapons.also there are two reasons why pakistan navy wants to to expand it's influence.one is CPEC.we all know this is an important project and the other reason is the experience of patrolling in indian ocean itself and we also want to monitor strait of hormuz because future chabahar iran port,they are all connecting with the same security threat type of things so i see it as a part of a larger game.india still deny that it sent it's submarine near karachi in 2016 but we all know.it's a security threat.we want our submarines deep inside indian ocean.this is just the beginning of a much larger plan.friendship between chinese and pakistani navy is important and you can see it by monitoring the frequent port calls.it's a complex game but it's for the dominance of indian ocean and for strait of hormuz.people might say that why we want to monitor strait of hormuz? iran might feel angry but this is important for us in the future.