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Chinese Navy (PLAN) News & Discussions

50% in increase is too modest. I bet double the scale at least. It's not too difficult to China's defense industry; I think the only obstacle is whether we could have enough well-trained people to handle these ships.
I heard often some folks raised the doubt whether or not China could prepare enough well-trained personnel to handle various assets, be it carrier-borne aircraft, naval surface warships, etc...

IMO it's a weird issue to apply on the most populous nation with so organized character...

My only question is... "Does anyone believe that China can afford to finance those additional personnel?"

If one believes it is NO, then that is the real problem :D but If yes, then there should be no problem!

For if China can build the hardware... then folks should set aside all the worries about the manpower! It is not like China is the kind that proceeds without meticulous planning, or there is any shortage of suitable manpower to train, just make sure the benefits are at minimum the decent ones to not drive away the applicants :bounce: :p:

As what we have witnessed at the glimpse on the J-15 pilot training, China has no real problem to prepare the needed manpower to handle its military assets... some folks simply have the groundless doubt in today's China! This is not to criticize you, I simply take the chance to address the similar notions heard often at varying threads from time to time at this forum and elsewhere :D somewhat ad nauseam! Hopefully we won't see any PDFer raises such groundless doubt from now on.

Btw, I intentionally put a modest increase, 50%, but in view of the actual economic and commerce needs -- must safeguard the Belt and Road projects and other overseas investments as needed -- plus the changing geopolitics situation, I believe an increase of at least 100% is a more realistic number. Let's see as time rolls on..
. :coffee:
 
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1.gif

Via https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4593035171004438?from=old_pc_videoshow
 
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Don't know where to put this kind of info regarding China, so I just put it here.

The US Indo-Pacific strategic framework on China was declassified by Trump administration during its last days -- Declassified by Robert C. O'Brien, US National Security Adviser on 2021.01.05

It consists of the US official policy intentions on China in detail.



View attachment 706401
Declassified White House docs reveal America’s self-doubt over a potential military conflict with China

By Tom Fowdy | RT Op-ed (2021-01-13)

Declassified White House docs & Trump.jpg

(L) © White House; (R) Donald Trump © REUTERS / Carlos Barria

With Donald Trump set to leave office, newly released documents show his strategy towards Beijing has largely failed, and that the US isn’t confident over its ability to contain China in certain areas should a conflict arise.

Following the departure of White House Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger and with the Trump administration coming to an end, a number of
documents have been declassified setting out its ‘Indo-Pacific’ strategy or, more specifically, its gameplan to attempt to contain China over its four years in office.

The documents are hardly comprehensive, yet reveal ambitions to contain Beijing in the political, diplomatic, economic and military spheres, including a blueprint of what the US would do in a potential war scenario.

According to the papers, the US has aimed to sustain its “primacy” in the region, “support activists and reformers” opposed to Beijing (such as the Hong Kong protesters), create a counter to the
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and economically integrate the region towards the US, enlist allies against China in the form of the Quad and assist “the rise of India”.

But what about in the event of a conflict? The documents spoke of aiming to prevent China “dominating the first island chain”the scope of islands extending from Japan to Taiwan and around the South China Sea – via air and sea, and to maintain uncontested supremacy over the “area beyond”. Military analysts have described the former objective as being
“modest” in expectation.

If anything, the file reveals the comprehensive failure of the Trump administration’s strategy towards the region during his tenure in office. Not only have attempts to bolster America’s economic presence failed completely, largely owing to the contradictory priorities of the White House, but in addition the document illustrates subtle doubt rather than confidence that the US is capable of defeating China in this “first island chain” region.

First Island Chain & Second Island Chain.png


The US, above all, is seeking naval containment of China, and in line Beijing has utilized the Belt and Road Initiative to counter it by diversifying its energy supply routes.

Throughout its tenure in office, the Trump administration has been unable to accept China’s status as a rising power, and these documents reveal how this resulted in a set of policies aimed at attempting to quell the country’s rise through various means.

These methods, however, have not yielded much success, largely because of the US’s understating of the dynamics which underscore Beijing’s centrality and importance to the region as an economic power, and the erroneous belief that it can easily divide the world into cold war blocs and force countries to undercut their relations with China on the premise of values alone.

The idea that the US can somehow displace Beijing again as the region’s economic centre of gravity is not realistic, and events such as the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
underscore that.

While it is obvious that the economic balance of power is shifting against America, what about in the military sphere? The documents show the US is looking at the region in two distinct areas; that “first island chain” and “the second one”, which constitutes the wider Pacific.

It believes that it should be able to dominate the latter in the event of a war, but can only at best try to prevent China from dominating the former completely, acknowledging that Beijing likely already has the upper hand in the South and East China Seas, and around Taiwan.

Based on this, it seems apparent the US would logically aim to defeat China in such a conflict via an attempt at a naval embargo, given a physical invasion could never be possible. This would involve choking off China’s access to the wider ocean and key maritime points such as the
Strait of Malacca.

This strategic planning by the US subsequently sheds light on the BRI. By strengthening infrastructure across the Eurasian landmass, China is diversifying its supply chain routes and reducing reliance on areas that can be dominated by the US Navy.

For example, the
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and Gwadar Port gives Beijing a passage to the western Indian ocean which would bypass US attempts at containment. This has coincided with China’s first overseas military base in the East African country of Djibouti and a port it is working on there, which would be used to protect its interests in this area and thus thwart any US military planning. As the Indo-Pacific strategy has sought to militarize China’s periphery and enlist partners, Beijing has responded.

In this case, the declassified documents reveal the wishlist of a dying administration that has thrown many things at China, with few sticking. It shows the scale of the challenge America faces. Despite the erratic nature of Trump, one should logically expect many of these ideas to be retained and form a template for incoming president, Joe Biden. Objectives such as sustaining US military primacy in Asia and sharpening initiatives such as the Quad will not go away anytime soon, even if there is a substantial lack of realism in them.

Yet the element of doubt in how a conflict with China could be managed only alludes to the shift that is taking place.
If America is not confident it could defeat Beijing in the first island chain, then what does that mean for the future? And for Taiwan?

China’s bet in fortifying its presence in the South China Sea, while diversifying its strategic options with the BRI, seems well placed. And that’s why it isn’t Beijing that is fighting an uphill battle to establish a localized dominance on this side of the world.




READ ALSO


America’s fantasy that China will soon collapse like the Soviet Union did is based on arrogance and ideology, not facts and reason (2021-01-04)
 
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Just stumbled across this fascinating article by Global Times focusing on Rear Admiral Ma Weiming -- surprisingly this August 2018 interesting piece is not posted anywhere in PDF! Therefore I will keep a copy here for easy reference.

Top electrical engineer says China’s catapult-assisted take-off tech not inferior to US

Source: Global Times (2018-08-16)

Ma Weiming 马伟明 Photo Screenshot of CCTV (2017).jpeg

Ma Weiming 马伟明 (Photo: Screenshot of CCTV)

As the winner of the People's Liberation Army's top military award in 2017, Rear Admiral Ma Weiming 马伟明 is a familiar name to Chinese.

The specialist in electrical engineering is the inventor of the electromagnetic catapult that some media said China might use aboard its latest aircraft carrier to launch and land fighter jets.

Ma and his team have done repeated successful tests on the catapult-assisted take-off technology. Ma says the technology is just as good as the system the Americans use, China Military Online reported.

In a documentary filmed by China Central Television (CCTV), Ma said that his character is like his surname Ma - in Chinese, it means a horse - "stubborn and short-tempered."

{May be this documentary!?: 马伟明:制胜深蓝 【军旅人生 20170731】
Ma Weiming: Winning Over The Deep Blue [Military Life 20170731] -- uploaded by CCTV-7 Military}


Last year, his research team developed a medium-voltage, direct-current transmission network to replace the older alternating current system for the country's domestically built Type 002 carrier, which could provide more power for its electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS).

Military expert Song Zhongping told the Global Times for a previous report that the intelligent power distribution of the system can support the use of high power-consuming weapons, such as electromagnetic guns, and solve the power shortage problems on older vessels.

Behind many great innovations is Ma's humble innovative spirit. "When I look back at my 30-year path of scientific research and innovation, I believe sticking to modesty and austerity can help overcome difficulty with great concentration, and lead to more achievements in technology, especially in our current society, driven by profit and temptation," Ma said in the documentary.

UNEXPECTED FATE

Born in Yangzhong, Jiangsu Province, in April 1960, Ma had never thought of studying in a military school because of his free and easy character. However, he chose "no preference" when filling out the application form on his college entrance exam, and therefore had to obey when he was assigned to a military school.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't want to go to military school at the beginning," he told CCTV.


But he realized if something could be changed on his own, he would try to make a change; if it couldn't be changed, he would get used to it, and remold it gradually.

After graduating from the Department of Electrical Engineering of the Naval University of Engineering (NUE) in 1982, he became a teacher at a military school in northern China. Ma was not satisfied with his daily work of training and handling trivial matters since he thought they hindered him from devoting himself to research.

Ma Weiming 马伟明 and his mentor, Zhang Gaifan 张盖凡 #1.png

Ma Weiming 马伟明 and his mentor, Zhang Gaifan 张盖 et al.

His talent was found by his supervisor, an influential person for Ma's whole life, Zhang Gaifan 张盖凡、who transferred Ma to the Naval University of Engineering so that he could further his studies and continue his research.

[The late Zhang Gaifan 张盖凡 was born in 1927 and was a professor of electrical engineering with the Naval University of Engineering, Wuhan, Hubei. His research interests included the analysis and computation of electromagnetic transients in electric machines and power systems. He passed away in June 2003]


'STUBBORN' EXPERT

In the early 1990s, engineers in China were developing a conventional submarine and had to import a high-performance 12-phase generator-rectifier system from abroad.

During a technical negotiation with foreign merchants, Ma raised the problem that the system had natural oscillation. However, the foreign merchant brushed the issue to one side, denying that their product had any problem.


In order to prove the existence of the problem, Ma spent 1,800 days and nights [nearly 5 years] on measuring, recording and analyzing the issue. The experimental notes and reports filled up half his office.

After analyzing tens of thousands of sets of data, Ma successfully developed a multi-phase generator-rectifier system with stabilizing windings that could solve the problem of natural oscillation. The foreign merchant who denied the problem then had to come to buy Ma's patent. His patent won first place in the State Scientific and Technological Progress Awards.

He became an academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2001 when he was 41, much younger than the average age of people with that honor.


STRONG TEAM

The team led by Ma has been recognized and awarded frequently in recent years. The team spent eight years developing the first double winding AC-DC generator system in the world in 2002, a core Chinese-developed technology with proprietary intellectual property rights.

A year later [2003], the team created and successfully developed a medium voltage DC integrated power system, which was ahead of foreign technology by 10 years.

However, as Ma gained the confidence to tackle bigger technical difficulties, his supervisor Zhang passed away [in June 2003]. "From then on, there was no one I could talk to if I had new ideas or questions. Even though I led the team since 1991, I counted on him sometimes," Ma told CCTV.

Ma Weiming 马伟明 and his mentor, Zhang Gaifan 张盖凡 #2.png

Ma Weiming 马伟明 and his mentor, Zhang Gaifan 张盖凡

Inspired by Zhang's spirit of innovation, Ma set up a scholarship for hardworking but poor students, using the money awarded by The Holeung Ho Lee Foundation, which amounted to $127,000.

Cultivating talent and improving the team are the priorities for Ma at present. He tries to give every team member opportunities to develop their own research.

Meng Jin, researcher at the Power Electronic Technique Application Research Institute of the NUE, said the quality of a team is not reflected by the number of researchers, but by the composition of the staff and the solidarity of the team.

Ma is glad to see a group of talented young people standing out in his team, which has an average age of 35 years old. "I hope my students can all surpass me and don't let me down," he said.

Holding a spirit of never giving up, he thinks challenges make life interesting.

Global Times
Newspaper headline: Launching China forward




READ ALSO:

中国电磁弹射之父,曾预言福特级航母烂尾,荣获八一勋章_马伟明 (2020-07-23)
The father of China's electromagnetic catapult, Ma Weiming, won the August 1st (Bayi) Medal

This award also shows the value of Ma Weiming to the Americans. In order to let people like Ma Weiming go to the United States, the US military has repeatedly paid a lot of money to invite Ma Weiming to work abroad. However, in the face of the temptation of huge amount of money, Ma Weiming said that he is a Chinese and can only strive for China's rejuvenation, which money can not change.

Because Ma Weiming didn't want to go to the United States, he was also made difficult by the United States. Finally, Ma Weiming overcame all kinds of difficulties and smashed the talent introduction plan of the United States.



他为恩师张盖凡塑了一尊铜像 马伟明与张盖凡感人一小事

Ma Weiming made a bronze statue for his mentor Zhang Gaifan. The story of Ma Weiming and Zhang Gaifan is touching

Zhang Gaifan 张盖凡 (1927-2003) - Bronze statue in front of the experimental building of the Inst...png

The bronze statue of Mr. Zhang Gaifan 张盖凡


On the lawn in front of the experimental building of the Research Institute of Power Electronic Technique Application of Naval University of Engineering, led by Ma Weiming, stands the bronze statue of Mr. Zhang Gaifan, which was cast (financed) by Ma Weiming. This bronze statue embodies Ma Weiming's respect and nostalgia for the pioneer, the greatly respected teacher, the teacher-training relationship, and the tradition of respect and cherishing the memories, so as to spur himself and inspire future generations. The bronze statue is speechless, but people can clearly hear that it is repeating an ancient Chinese saying: “It takes extraordinary people to build extraordinary achievements.”
 
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China Sends New Naval Fleet for Escort Mission in Gulf of Aden in Mission Rotation
The 37th escort task force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy set sail for the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia from Sanya City of south China's Hainan Province on Saturday, in rotation of escort missions.

 
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Andrew Erickson wrote the following blog post which summarises J. Michael Dahm's research outcomes on PLA's SCS capability and indirectly indicates the way that PLA controls the SCS,

“South China Sea Military Capabilities Series”—Unique, Penetrating Insights from J. Michael Dahm, former Assistant U.S. Naval Attaché in Beijing

PLAN does not deploy large fleets of aircrafts and ships to those man-made islands. Instead they installed some massive sensor and communication arrays on all those islands and surrounding sea beds.

In doing so China would mostly use long range sea or land attacking missiles to start counter attacks if a US invasion or precision attack to any of the islands had ever happened. For example ASBM to hit aircraft carrier or big DDGs and IRBM to hit Japan, South Korea, Guam, Hawaii, etc.
 
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Declassified White House docs reveal America’s self-doubt over a potential military conflict with China

By Tom Fowdy | RT Op-ed (2021-01-13)

View attachment 706661
(L) © White House; (R) Donald Trump © REUTERS / Carlos Barria

With Donald Trump set to leave office, newly released documents show his strategy towards Beijing has largely failed, and that the US isn’t confident over its ability to contain China in certain areas should a conflict arise.

Following the departure of White House Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger and with the Trump administration coming to an end, a number of
documents have been declassified setting out its ‘Indo-Pacific’ strategy or, more specifically, its gameplan to attempt to contain China over its four years in office.

The documents are hardly comprehensive, yet reveal ambitions to contain Beijing in the political, diplomatic, economic and military spheres, including a blueprint of what the US would do in a potential war scenario.

According to the papers, the US has aimed to sustain its “primacy” in the region, “support activists and reformers” opposed to Beijing (such as the Hong Kong protesters), create a counter to the
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and economically integrate the region towards the US, enlist allies against China in the form of the Quad and assist “the rise of India”.

But what about in the event of a conflict? The documents spoke of aiming to prevent China “dominating the first island chain”the scope of islands extending from Japan to Taiwan and around the South China Sea – via air and sea, and to maintain uncontested supremacy over the “area beyond”. Military analysts have described the former objective as being
“modest” in expectation.

If anything, the file reveals the comprehensive failure of the Trump administration’s strategy towards the region during his tenure in office. Not only have attempts to bolster America’s economic presence failed completely, largely owing to the contradictory priorities of the White House, but in addition the document illustrates subtle doubt rather than confidence that the US is capable of defeating China in this “first island chain” region.

View attachment 706658

The US, above all, is seeking naval containment of China, and in line Beijing has utilized the Belt and Road Initiative to counter it by diversifying its energy supply routes.

Throughout its tenure in office, the Trump administration has been unable to accept China’s status as a rising power, and these documents reveal how this resulted in a set of policies aimed at attempting to quell the country’s rise through various means.

These methods, however, have not yielded much success, largely because of the US’s understating of the dynamics which underscore Beijing’s centrality and importance to the region as an economic power, and the erroneous belief that it can easily divide the world into cold war blocs and force countries to undercut their relations with China on the premise of values alone.

The idea that the US can somehow displace Beijing again as the region’s economic centre of gravity is not realistic, and events such as the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
underscore that.

While it is obvious that the economic balance of power is shifting against America, what about in the military sphere? The documents show the US is looking at the region in two distinct areas; that “first island chain” and “the second one”, which constitutes the wider Pacific.

It believes that it should be able to dominate the latter in the event of a war, but can only at best try to prevent China from dominating the former completely, acknowledging that Beijing likely already has the upper hand in the South and East China Seas, and around Taiwan.

Based on this, it seems apparent the US would logically aim to defeat China in such a conflict via an attempt at a naval embargo, given a physical invasion could never be possible. This would involve choking off China’s access to the wider ocean and key maritime points such as the
Strait of Malacca.

This strategic planning by the US subsequently sheds light on the BRI. By strengthening infrastructure across the Eurasian landmass, China is diversifying its supply chain routes and reducing reliance on areas that can be dominated by the US Navy.

For example, the
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and Gwadar Port gives Beijing a passage to the western Indian ocean which would bypass US attempts at containment. This has coincided with China’s first overseas military base in the East African country of Djibouti and a port it is working on there, which would be used to protect its interests in this area and thus thwart any US military planning. As the Indo-Pacific strategy has sought to militarize China’s periphery and enlist partners, Beijing has responded.

In this case, the declassified documents reveal the wishlist of a dying administration that has thrown many things at China, with few sticking. It shows the scale of the challenge America faces. Despite the erratic nature of Trump, one should logically expect many of these ideas to be retained and form a template for incoming president, Joe Biden. Objectives such as sustaining US military primacy in Asia and sharpening initiatives such as the Quad will not go away anytime soon, even if there is a substantial lack of realism in them.

Yet the element of doubt in how a conflict with China could be managed only alludes to the shift that is taking place.
If America is not confident it could defeat Beijing in the first island chain, then what does that mean for the future? And for Taiwan?

China’s bet in fortifying its presence in the South China Sea, while diversifying its strategic options with the BRI, seems well placed. And that’s why it isn’t Beijing that is fighting an uphill battle to establish a localized dominance on this side of the world.




READ ALSO


America’s fantasy that China will soon collapse like the Soviet Union did is based on arrogance and ideology, not facts and reason (2021-01-04)
They should invest all their money into "the rise of India"
 
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#Aman2021 – Chinese naval fleet heads for multinational maritime exercise in Pakistan
About 45 countries are participating in the drills being hosted by Pakistan Navy, with one common resolve


Web Desk


05:00 PM | 11 Feb, 2021

#Aman2021 – Chinese naval fleet heads for multinational maritime exercise in Pakistan


KARACHI – A fleet of the People's Liberation Army Navy on Thursday set off for Pakistan to attend a multilateral joint naval exercise at the invitation of the Pakistani navy, China's Ministry of National Defence said.
It is the eighth time for a Chinese naval fleet to participate in such exercises organized by the Pakistani navy, which are aimed at strengthening exchanges and friendly interactions with navies of relevant countries, said the statement.
The Aman-2021 multinational maritime exercise is commencing in Karachi and in the Pakistani waters from today (Thursday).
The 6-day exercise Aman-2021 has the slogan ‘Together for Peace” and will have two phases, a harbor phase and a sea phase.
The exercise is being participated by 45 countries along with their surface and air assets, special operation forces, marine teams, senior officers and observers.
“With a resolve against terrorism and piracy, carrying high the slogan of ‘Together for Peace’, the Aman Exercise is conducted by the Pakistan Navy after every two years in the form of a collaboration between the navies of various countries to maintain a safe and sustainable maritime realm and, above all, enhance interoperability between regional and extra-regional navies,” Pakistan Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Naveed Ashraf said during a media briefing.
‘Call of Peace’ – Pakistan Navy releases ...11:37 AM | 10 Feb, 2021
ISLAMABAD – A special promo song ‘The Call of Peace’ for the multinational exercise 'AMAN 2021' has ...

AMAN (Peace), a major multinational exercise is a biennial event organised every two years since 2007.
All the participating navies had the common objective of ensuring peace and freedom in maritime arena to provide safe and un interrupted flow of trade.
The word AMAN means ‘Peace’ and the slogan of the exercise is ‘Together for Peace’. A total 45 countries have committed to take part. A total eleven ships from China, Japan, Russian Federation, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, UK, and USA will participate along with 112 officials of participating countries as observers.
Around 80 to 85 per cent of global trade by volume and over 70 per cent by value is carried by sea, only one percent by air and about 15 by land.
Indian ocean (IO) is the third largest in the world, hub of major sea routes connecting the Middle East, Africa and East Asia with Europe and the Americas. These vital sea lanes, facilitate maritime trade in the IO region, carry more than half of the world’s sea-borne oil and host 23 of the world’s top 100 container ports.
Pakistan, specifically, its Gwadar port occupies strategic location overlooking the Strait of Hormuz and the North Arabia
 
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China’s 2nd Type 055 Destroyer ‘Lhasa’ 拉萨 Commissioned With PLAN
China' second Type 055 Destroyer (NATO reporting name: Renhai-class cruiser) was recently commissioned with the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or Chinese Navy). The vessel is named after Lhasa (拉萨), the capital of Tibet and received the pennant number 102.
Xavier Vavasseur 07 Mar 2021

Google Earth / Maxar Technologies satellite imagery from 27 January 2021 shows the vessel with its pennant ‘102’ painted on the flight deck. The vessel is berthed in a degaussing facility at Yulin naval base on Hainan Island.

Then Tibetan newspaper Lhasa Daily reported on 2 March 2021 that Vice Manor of Lhasa travelled to a naval base in Qingdao to visit the officers and sailors of Lhasa. Local TV station Lhasa TV also published a report and was able to film the interior of the destroyer. However the exact commissioning date was not reported.

“Inside the destroyer 102 Lhasa (拉萨, ལྷ་ ས་), of the Type 055 class, which bears the name of the capital of Tiber. The vessel is currently located at its base port near Qingdao.”

Like for the first ship-in-class, Lhasa (the PLAN spells it Lasa) was built by Jiangnan Changxing Shipyard in Shanghai and joined the 1st Destroyer Detachment of the PLAN’s North Sea Fleet.

About Type 055 Destroyer
Type 055 Destroyer Nanchang PLAN
Type 055 destroyer Nanchang. Image via Icloo/PDF

The Type 055 destroyers are the largest surface combatant currently being built in the world with a length of 180 meters, a beam of 20 meters and a draft of 6.6 meters for a full load displacement of about 13,000t (compared to the US Navy’s Ticonderoga-class cruiser and the Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer both at 9,800 tons or the Royal Navy Type 45 at about 8,500 tons). Their official PLAN designation is “10,000-ton class destroyer.” while the US Department of Defense have been calling them “cruisers” since 2017.

First ship of the class, ‘Nanchang’ was launched on June 28, 2017 at the Jiangnan Changxing Shipyard in Shanghai and the second one was launched in April 2018 at the same shipyard. Two more Type 055 were launched in 2018, two more in 2019 and and additional two in 2020 bringing the total of hulls currently in the water to eight. The first ship-in-class, Nanchang (101) was commissioned on 12 January 2020.

The current Type 055’s weapons fit includes:
  • A 130 mm H/PJ-38 main gun
  • 112 VLS silos
  • A H/PJ-11 CIWS with a fire rate of 10,000 rd/min
  • A HQ-10 short-range missiles
  • Decoy launchers
  • Torpedoes.

The silos are split in two ares: 64x cells forward and 48x cessls aft, just in front of the ship’s double hangar. They are of the same model as those used on Type 052D, compatible with both hot and cold launch missiles thanks to the Concentric Canister Launcher (CCL) concept.

According to our colleague East Pendulum, all Chinese missiles which size does not exceed 9 meters in length and 0.85 meters in diameter can be launched from those VLS cells, provided that the combat system is compatible.

“The Chinese Navy’s Weibo 人民 海军 account confirms the existence of the land attack cruise missile on the Type 055 destroyer. This missile is expected to be a variant of YJ-18.”

The PLAN is set to fit its first few Type 055 with HQ-9B anti-aircraft missiles with a range of 200 km, YJ-18A anti-ship missiles, a new type of medium range anti-aircraft missile and land attack cruise missiles based on the YJ-18 family, ie, practically the same as those already found on Type 052D destroyers. It is also likely that the new anti-submarine missile Yu-8A is among the ship’s weapons fit.


 
.
China’s 2nd Type 055 Destroyer ‘Lhasa’ 拉萨 Commissioned With PLAN
China' second Type 055 Destroyer (NATO reporting name: Renhai-class cruiser) was recently commissioned with the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or Chinese Navy). The vessel is named after Lhasa (拉萨), the capital of Tibet and received the pennant number 102.
Xavier Vavasseur 07 Mar 2021

Google Earth / Maxar Technologies satellite imagery from 27 January 2021 shows the vessel with its pennant ‘102’ painted on the flight deck. The vessel is berthed in a degaussing facility at Yulin naval base on Hainan Island.

Then Tibetan newspaper Lhasa Daily reported on 2 March 2021 that Vice Manor of Lhasa travelled to a naval base in Qingdao to visit the officers and sailors of Lhasa. Local TV station Lhasa TV also published a report and was able to film the interior of the destroyer. However the exact commissioning date was not reported.

“Inside the destroyer 102 Lhasa (拉萨, ལྷ་ ས་), of the Type 055 class, which bears the name of the capital of Tiber. The vessel is currently located at its base port near Qingdao.”

Like for the first ship-in-class, Lhasa (the PLAN spells it Lasa) was built by Jiangnan Changxing Shipyard in Shanghai and joined the 1st Destroyer Detachment of the PLAN’s North Sea Fleet.

About Type 055 Destroyer
Type 055 Destroyer Nanchang PLAN
Type 055 destroyer Nanchang. Image via Icloo/PDF

The Type 055 destroyers are the largest surface combatant currently being built in the world with a length of 180 meters, a beam of 20 meters and a draft of 6.6 meters for a full load displacement of about 13,000t (compared to the US Navy’s Ticonderoga-class cruiser and the Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer both at 9,800 tons or the Royal Navy Type 45 at about 8,500 tons). Their official PLAN designation is “10,000-ton class destroyer.” while the US Department of Defense have been calling them “cruisers” since 2017.

First ship of the class, ‘Nanchang’ was launched on June 28, 2017 at the Jiangnan Changxing Shipyard in Shanghai and the second one was launched in April 2018 at the same shipyard. Two more Type 055 were launched in 2018, two more in 2019 and and additional twoin 2020 bringing the total of hulls currently in the water to eight. The first ship-in-class, Nanchang (101) was commissioned on 12 January 2020.

The current Type 055’s weapons fit includes:
  • A 130 mm H/PJ-38 main gun
  • 112 VLS silos
  • A H/PJ-11 CIWS with a fire rate of 10,000 rd/min
  • A HQ-10 short-range missiles
  • Decoy launchers
  • Torpedoes.

The silos are split in two ares: 64x cells forward and 48x cessls aft, just in front of the ship’s double hangar. They are of the same model as those used on Type 052D, compatible with both hot and cold launch missiles thanks to the Concentric Canister Launcher (CCL) concept.

According to our colleague East Pendulum, all Chinese missiles which size does not exceed 9 meters in length and 0.85 meters in diameter can be launched from those VLS cells, provided that the combat system is compatible.

“The Chinese Navy’s Weibo 人民 海军 account confirms the existence of the land attack cruise missile on the Type 055 destroyer. This missile is expected to be a variant of YJ-18.”

The PLAN is set to fit its first few Type 055 with HQ-9B anti-aircraft missiles with a range of 200 km, YJ-18A anti-ship missiles, a new type of medium range anti-aircraft missile and land attack cruise missiles based on the YJ-18 family, ie, practically the same as those already found on Type 052D destroyers. It is also likely that the new anti-submarine missile Yu-8A is among the ship’s weapons fit.


Type 055 employs the best sensor arrays and information fusion capability in the world.
 
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