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What Makes China's "Mini Aegis-Class Destroyer" Special? No Sailors.

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What Makes China's "Mini Aegis-Class Destroyer" Special? No Sailors.

by Michael Peck
March 2, 2019

Here’s a riddle: one ship carries missiles, radar and weighs 10,000 tons. The other carries missiles, radar and weighs twenty tons.

What do they have in common? They’re both Aegis-class warships, according to China.

Chinese media claims that China has developed a twenty-ton robot boat that is a “mini Aegis-class destroyer,” a bite-sized counterpart to the U.S. Navy’s vaunted Arleigh Burke -class destroyers. The American ships are equipped with the Aegis Combat System, which includes powerful radars as well as ninety to ninety-six Vertical Launch System tubes that can fire Tomahawk cruise missiles and an array of anti-aircraft, anti-submarine, anti-surface ship and even anti-ballistic missile weapons. Closer in size to cruisers than traditional destroyers, the 500-foot-long, 10,000-ton Arleigh Burkes can perform a variety of missions from land attack to ballistic missile defense.

China’s Mini-Me response is the JARI, developed by China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation and unveiled at a defense trade show in Abu Dhabi earlier this month. “The JARI unmanned surface vessel is equipped with a phased array radar, vertical-launched missiles and torpedoes despite its small size of 15 meters [49.2 feet] and low displacement of 20 tons,” said China’s state-owned Global Times, which cited an earlier Chinese state television report. “These weapons are usually only seen on frigates and destroyers with displacement of thousands of tons, and their use on a ship as small as the JARI makes the vessel the most integrated naval drone in the world.”

A photograph of a model of JARI showed what appeared to some kind of bow-mounted weapons mount with a cannon and launch tubes, what might be a single vertical launch tube amidships, and either outrigger booms or torpedo tubes attached to the stern.

“The ship can track naval targets within visual range, aerial targets 30 kilometers [18.6 miles] away and underwater targets 7 kilometers [4.3 miles] away,” Global Times said. “It can then attack with missiles, torpedoes and gun. The JARI can be remotely controlled, but also uses artificial intelligence to autonomously navigate itself and undertake combat activities once it receives commands.”

A Chinese military expert called the JARI a "mini Aegis-class destroyer. Given how small the ship is, this setup can be considered very powerful," he told Global Times.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/b...egis-class-destroyer-special-no-sailors-45992
 
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Don't think this will be much use. Radars and armaments are too weak. Still, a good stepping stone for more advanced unmanned boats
 
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Instead of focusing on its size, focus on the technologies it carries:

The JARI unmanned surface vehicle is 49 feet long and displaces 20 tons of water, Defense News reported. It can sail for around 500 miles at a top speed of 42 knots, according to the trade publication.

"The JARI comes equipped with electro-optical sensor atop a superstructure, a phased array radar, a dipping sonar, eight small vertical launch system cells, a torpedo launcher and a forward mounted machine gun and rocket launcher for counter-surface engagements," Defense News explained.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/next-chinese-naval-threat-robot-warships-44942

o0Tp6e6.jpg


Building a larger ship is the easiest thing in the world for China.

f8QdRix.jpg

cCgIHUw.jpg
 
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Instead of focusing on its size, focus on the technologies it carries:

The JARI unmanned surface vehicle is 49 feet long and displaces 20 tons of water, Defense News reported. It can sail for around 500 miles at a top speed of 42 knots, according to the trade publication.

"The JARI comes equipped with electro-optical sensor atop a superstructure, a phased array radar, a dipping sonar, eight small vertical launch system cells, a torpedo launcher and a forward mounted machine gun and rocket launcher for counter-surface engagements," Defense News explained.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/next-chinese-naval-threat-robot-warships-44942

o0Tp6e6.jpg


Building a larger ship is the easiest thing in the world for China.

f8QdRix.jpg

cCgIHUw.jpg
The technologies this craft carries is limited by it's size. Aegis systems consist of sband radars with 175+km search radius against aerial threats and missiles to engage at that distance. The JARI can't fit the aegis capability.
 
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The important thing is that China can now produce a small 'four-faced active phased array radar' similar to what is found on the Thales Integrated Mast.

In other words, China produced an unmanned (and better armed) version of this:

HNLMS_Holland.jpg


Small does not mean low-tech.
 
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