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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
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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 rivalor perhaps someday bestthe U.S. Navy.
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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 shipyardthe two Type 055sappear 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.
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Type 052D destroyer Hefei, St. Petersburg, Russia, July 2017.
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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 assetslike the carriers Liaoning, Type 002, or Type 071 amphibious transportsfrom 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.

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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.

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The Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Fitzgerald.
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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/
 
Photo from PLAN held first anti-sea mine combat assessment competition.

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PLA conducts anti-underwater mine warfare drill to protect maritime sovereignty
Source Global Times Editor Li Jiayao Time 2018-06-18

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy recently conducted its first competitive live-munition underwater anti-mine warfare exercise, with experts saying the training focused on future military scenarios.

Bombers, minesweepers and mine-hunting ships of multiple PLA theater commands participated in "back-to-back" tests in the East China Sea, which included covert installation of underwater mines by air units, navigational path clearance by surface ships, and mine detection and sweeping, the official website of the PLA Navy, navy.81.cn reported Friday.

Installation and clearance of underwater mines is an important naval battle capability that must be improved upon in preparation for possible future foreign interference in the Taiwan Straits, the South China Sea or the East China Sea, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Monday.

Some military powers could block China's key marine outfalls and navigation paths by installing mines to delay the PLA, Song added, noting that PLA Navy preventative strategy could help defuse such foreign threats.

PLA deterrence strategy of laying underwater mines could also effectively keep foreign forces away from China's coastal waters, he said.

Nearly 20 underwater mines were installed, detected and swept during the assessment.

"The simulation was very realistic because we didn't have any information about the mines related to quantity, model or location," Zhu Shizhai, commander of a Southern Theater Command anti-mine fleet, was quoted by the report as saying.

Zhu's fleet was the first to find and eliminate a navigational path mine in the assessment on June 12.

PLA officials simulated complex scenarios according to real battlefield rules and did everything possible to recreate realistic combat situations in order to reinforce troops' strengths and improve upon their weaknesses.

Mine clearance is a challenge not only for China, but also for militarily advanced countries such as the US and Japan, he said, adding that reinforcement of the capability better prepares militaries for future operations.

More than 40 experts and professors from PLA Navy training institutions and research institutes and colleges were allocated to different fleets to comprehensively evaluate ships' mine-sweeping operations based on tactical methods, maneuvering process, and combat effectiveness.

 
Too many nuclear submarines, especially type 093 and 094, why would China build more than current 4 type 094?
 
The poster, 辽宁号总指挥长, considered a big shrimp, stated in his Weibo that total of 6 units aircraft carrier projects had been signed for approval, this is inclusive of CV 16 Liaoning and 002 which is under going sea trial.

The magnetic cat (EMALS) 003 is to be built in JNCX, Shanghai, and the nuclear powered 004 is to be built in Dalian.


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Chinese frigate Binzhou welcomes visitors in Kiel Week
Source:China Military Online Editor:Li Jiayao 2018-06-20
By Hou Rui and Wang Xiaoxin

KIEL, GERMANY, June 20 (ChinaMil) -- The guided-missile frigate Binzhou (Hull 515) of the 29th Chinese naval escort taskforce was open to the public from June 16 to 17 in Kiel, Germany. The Chinese warship is in Kiel to participate in the “Kiel Week” activities and pay a friendly visit to Germany.

Local residents, overseas Chinese living in Germany and military personnel from different countries, with a total number exceeding 4500, boarded frigate Binzhou for a visit.

Many overseas Chinese and Chinese students studying in Germany traveled from Hamburg and Berlin to Kiel by train in the early morning to have a close look at the warship form their motherland.

Sailors from navies of foreign countries including Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands and Poland, who are also participating in the annual Kiel Week events, toured the Chinese frigate and were impressed with the ship's good performance and the well-trained and highly-disciplined crew.

The first Kiel Week was held in 1882 with a ship race among 20 sailing yachts. It has now become the largest sailing event in the world, which includes yacht race, summer cultural festivals and gathering of international naval ships.

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