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Posted on January 2, 2016 by N.R.P
INTRODUCTION
Frigates are an indispensable part of any navy. These ships usually form the numerical bulk of a naval fleet as they are relatively cheaper than large destroyers and cruisers. Every modern navy operates frigates in some or the other form and uses them along with larger surface combatants like destroyers and aircraft carriers. The definition of a modern frigate by Defencyclopedia is
A modern frigate is a 3000-7000 ton warship, equipped with an array of missiles, guns and radars, and is designed to operate autonomously, along with a battle group or act as an escort for non-combatants, in order to fulfill a variety of tasks depending on the mission.
A warship displacing 5000-7000 tons need not always be called as a frigate, as many navies prefer the designation of a ‘destroyer’ for such warships. The designations vary from one navy to another, but the role of the ships does not change. Some countries call their larger surface combatants as frigates for political reasons and some others call their smaller surface combatants as frigates. A modern frigate can displace anywhere between 3000-7000 tons. But for the sake of this article, only frigates displacing 4000-7000 tons will be considered.
This article will deal specifically with the frigates designed and built in the 21st century. Each ship has been carefully analyzed to ensure a neutral ranking. The weapons and sensors on board the ship and their ability to handle multiple targets is given importance. Since each frigate has its own set of strengths and their roles vary greatly and a frigate should not be considered to be better just because it is ranked slightly higher. The top 10 frigates will be listed along with their strengths and weaknesses.
A special thanks to Naval Analyses for the beautiful and intricately detailed infographics which will help you to get a clear idea of the systems on board the frigates. The remaining few have been created by Defencyclopedia. I am pretty sure that many of the ships on this list are relatively unknown. So sit back and enjoy reading the article.
10. TYPE-54A [CHINA]
This is a new class of frigates for the Chinese Navy which is being built in large numbers. It is a cost effective 4000 ton multi-role frigate that is designed for escort as well as independent operations. It is outfitted mainly with Russian electronics and weapons, some of which have been substituted with Chinese copies. Although it packs a punch, it lags behind other contemporary frigates mainly in the radar department. Because it is the cheapest modern frigate in production, China is building dozens of them and 24 ships of this class have been built until now with more under construction.
Strength: Anti-Air Warfare
Propulsion: It has a Combined Diesel and Diesel (CODAD) propulsion with 4 Shaanxi diesel engines, each rated at 5700 kW, thus producing a total of 22,800 kW
Sensors:
Cons:
![](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fdefencyclopedia.files.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F09%2Fshivalik-class.png%3Fw%3D1000%26h%3D738&hash=abf6c00042c32f573d4bdcb14bf6a880)
The Shivalik class is one of the newest frigates of the Indian Navy and has the distinction of being the first class of stealth warships to be designed and built indigenously. It is a very capable platform and excels in all aspects of naval warfare. These 6200 ton ships are classified as frigates and not destroyers due to their relatively light armament with respect to the space available.
Strength: Anti-Submarine Warfare
Propulsion:
Click on the image for the full resolution version
Armament:
![](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fdefencyclopedia.files.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F09%2F2i9gynd.jpg%3Fw%3D467%26h%3D311&hash=144f11e2dd2cb61ced6a34a27cd96284)
Firing a 3M54E Klub ‘Sizzler’ anti-ship cruise missile
Firing an Anti-Submarine rocket from the RBU-6000 launcher
INTRODUCTION
Frigates are an indispensable part of any navy. These ships usually form the numerical bulk of a naval fleet as they are relatively cheaper than large destroyers and cruisers. Every modern navy operates frigates in some or the other form and uses them along with larger surface combatants like destroyers and aircraft carriers. The definition of a modern frigate by Defencyclopedia is
A modern frigate is a 3000-7000 ton warship, equipped with an array of missiles, guns and radars, and is designed to operate autonomously, along with a battle group or act as an escort for non-combatants, in order to fulfill a variety of tasks depending on the mission.
A warship displacing 5000-7000 tons need not always be called as a frigate, as many navies prefer the designation of a ‘destroyer’ for such warships. The designations vary from one navy to another, but the role of the ships does not change. Some countries call their larger surface combatants as frigates for political reasons and some others call their smaller surface combatants as frigates. A modern frigate can displace anywhere between 3000-7000 tons. But for the sake of this article, only frigates displacing 4000-7000 tons will be considered.
This article will deal specifically with the frigates designed and built in the 21st century. Each ship has been carefully analyzed to ensure a neutral ranking. The weapons and sensors on board the ship and their ability to handle multiple targets is given importance. Since each frigate has its own set of strengths and their roles vary greatly and a frigate should not be considered to be better just because it is ranked slightly higher. The top 10 frigates will be listed along with their strengths and weaknesses.
A special thanks to Naval Analyses for the beautiful and intricately detailed infographics which will help you to get a clear idea of the systems on board the frigates. The remaining few have been created by Defencyclopedia. I am pretty sure that many of the ships on this list are relatively unknown. So sit back and enjoy reading the article.
10. TYPE-54A [CHINA]
![800px-thumbnail.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2Fe%2Fe5%2FPeople%2527s_Liberation_Army_%2528Navy%2529_frigate_PLA%2528N%2529_Yueyang_%2528FF_575%2529_steams_in_formation_with_42_other_ships_and_submarines_during_Rim_of_the_Pacific_%2528RIMPAC%2529_Exercise_2014.jpg%2F800px-thumbnail.jpg&hash=ca666702015381b229752829006b8443)
This is a new class of frigates for the Chinese Navy which is being built in large numbers. It is a cost effective 4000 ton multi-role frigate that is designed for escort as well as independent operations. It is outfitted mainly with Russian electronics and weapons, some of which have been substituted with Chinese copies. Although it packs a punch, it lags behind other contemporary frigates mainly in the radar department. Because it is the cheapest modern frigate in production, China is building dozens of them and 24 ships of this class have been built until now with more under construction.
Strength: Anti-Air Warfare
Propulsion: It has a Combined Diesel and Diesel (CODAD) propulsion with 4 Shaanxi diesel engines, each rated at 5700 kW, thus producing a total of 22,800 kW
Sensors:
- 1 E-band Fregat-ME as its primary radar for surface and air search
- 4 Front Dome fire control radars for HQ-16 SAM
- 1 Mineral ME radar for guiding the anti-ship missiles
- Hull mounted sonar
- Towed array sonar ( 17th ship onward )
- 1 x 76 mm dual purpose main gun
- 8 x C-803 subsonic anti-ship missiles with 180 km range
- 32 Vertical launch system (VLS) cells for 50 km range HQ-16 (Shtil) SAM with semi-active radar seeker.
- 2 x Type-730 Close in Weapons System (CIWS) with dedicated search, track and fire control radar. This is being replaced by the 11 barreled Type 1030 CIWS in the newer ships.
- 2 x 6 ASW rocket launchers for short range rockets
- 2 triple 324 mm lightweight torpedo tubes
![type-54a-ashm.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fdefencyclopedia.files.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F10%2Ftype-54a-ashm.jpg%3Fw%3D303%26h%3D227%26crop%3D1&hash=5bc9154c2a93a7a7f3004f208663d34d)
![type-54a-vls-fire.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fdefencyclopedia.files.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F10%2Ftype-54a-vls-fire.jpg%3Fw%3D303%26h%3D228%26crop%3D1&hash=8531772ba9ad4a1f58da88b2ee60a587)
![type-54a-vls.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fdefencyclopedia.files.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F10%2Ftype-54a-vls.jpg%3Fw%3D689%26h%3D459%26crop%3D1&hash=09a7a1cf52daecbb6037edd66ca3f816)
Cons:
- It uses the relatively older Fregat-ME radar for surface and air search as its primary sensor.
- There is no secondary long range radar for volume search.
- It has 4 older generation mechanically scanning fire control radars for the SAM, limiting the number of aerial targets engaged simultaneously to 4.
- First 18 frigates of the class lack the important variable depth sonar (VDS).
![](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fdefencyclopedia.files.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F09%2Fshivalik-class.png%3Fw%3D1000%26h%3D738&hash=abf6c00042c32f573d4bdcb14bf6a880)
The Shivalik class is one of the newest frigates of the Indian Navy and has the distinction of being the first class of stealth warships to be designed and built indigenously. It is a very capable platform and excels in all aspects of naval warfare. These 6200 ton ships are classified as frigates and not destroyers due to their relatively light armament with respect to the space available.
Strength: Anti-Submarine Warfare
Propulsion:
- Combined Diesel or Gas (CODAG) propulsion. Using only diesel engines for low speed cruise and using only gas turbines for high speed cruise.
- 2 x Pielstick diesel engines, each producing 11,300 kW for a total of 22,600 kW for low speed cruise at up to 22 knots.
- 2 x LM 2500+ gas turbines, each producing 25,100 kW for a total of 50,200 kWfor high speed cruise at 32+ knots (59+ km/hr)
- It uses the E-band Fregat-ME 3D radar as its primary radar for surface and air search
- The secondary radar is the Elta EL/M-2238 STAR operating in the S-band. It is a multi-role radar with a range of 350+ km.
- 2 Elta EL/M 2221 fire control radars are used for Barak-1 SAM guidance
- 4 Orekh fire control radars are used for Shtil SAM guidance
- 1 BEL Aparna radar for 2D surface search and providing targeting data for Klub/BrahMos anti-ship missiles
- HUMSA-NG( Indian Hull Mounted Sonar Array- New Gen) and ATAS towed array sonar system
![shivalik-info.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fdefencyclopedia.files.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F12%2Fshivalik-info.jpg%3Fw%3D1000%26h%3D428&hash=3a1cff86ac8de60d87b96024411067a3)
Click on the image for the full resolution version
Armament:
- It is equipped with 8 Universal VLS cells for Klub/BrahMos anti-ship cruise missiles. They can also be used for land attack roles.
- 1 x Single arm reloadable launcher for 24 Shtil-1 Surface to Air Missiles. They are semi-active radar homing and have a 40 km range.
- 32 Barak-1 SAMs in VLS to act as Close in Weapons System (CIWS) and provide defense against sea-skimming cruise missiles.
- 1 x 76 mm Oto Melara Super rapid Gun Mount (SRGM) with 120 rds/min rate of fire up to a range of 17 km. It is highly effective against surface and aerial threats.
- 2 x Ak-630 30 mm Gatling guns as CIWS for last ditch defense against anti-ship missiles
- 2 x RBU-6000 anti-submarine rocket launchers. Each launcher has 12 barrels and 96 reloadable rockets below the deck.
- 2 x Twin 533 mm heavyweight torpedo tubes for engaging sub-surface threats.
- It uses an outdated single-arm launcher for its primary Shtil-1 Surface to Air Missiles. It takes 6 seconds for the missile to reload and the firing arc is limited to the front of the ship. All other ships in this list have vertical launch systems for their primary SAM.
- Older generation primary radar with mechanically scanning illuminators limit the number of aerial targets engaged simultaneously to 6 (4 can be targeted)
![](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fdefencyclopedia.files.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F09%2F2i9gynd.jpg%3Fw%3D467%26h%3D311&hash=144f11e2dd2cb61ced6a34a27cd96284)
Firing a 3M54E Klub ‘Sizzler’ anti-ship cruise missile
![tauchien_kienthuc%20(13)_aiad.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fcms.kienthuc.net.vn%2Fzoomh%2F500%2Fuploaded%2Flenam%2F2014_08_06%2Ftauchien_kienthuc%2520%2813%29_aiad.jpg&hash=87680271905bdf23f0797150b5e7ef06)
Firing an Anti-Submarine rocket from the RBU-6000 launcher