Type 055, Type 056, Type 910... These new Chinese vessels launched silently — East Pendulum (2018-05-09)
It has now been a little over two months since there was any information, officially published at least, on the launching of new ships for the Chinese Navy, a silence that of course does not reflect the reality as no less than five new surface ships - including the second large destroyer Type 055 and two corvettes Type 056A - were launched in four different shipyards in China between early March and late April.
The first ones that were launched recently are two Type 056 corvettes, one at the Huangpu Shipyard in Guangzhou in early March and the other at the Hudong Shipyard in Shanghai on March 17th. It is the 44th and 45th class of a total of sixty buildings ordered by the Chinese Navy since the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015).
For the moment, it is unclear whether the two new vessels are of the Type 056 basic version, or the Type 056A anti-submarine variant, but if we believe in the last follow-up where almost all new hulls were built are for the ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare), one can reasonably think that the trend will continue.
After a small installation in 2017 with only three Type 056 launched, against 8 in 2012, 10 in 2013 or 9 in 2016, the production rate of this class of ship dedicated to coastal defense and the protection of maritime interests (EEZ... ) could be picked up slightly this year, but this remains to be confirmed.
The past Corvettes now comes from a somewhat special ship, which, according to a former Chinese naval technical officer, would be designed specifically for submarine hunting. This is the second catamaran Type 927, launched in March at the Wuchang Shipyard located in central China.
Very little detail on this SWATH (Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull) configuration catamaran class has been released so far, nor even its standard displacement, but it is believed to be close to the USS Impeccable therefore it is close to 5,000 tonnes.
But if there is one ship that attracts the attention of everyone, among all the new buildings launched in the last two months, this is the second unit of the Type 055 large destroyer.
It is from Saturday, April 28th, that Shanghai spotters begin to signal the imminent launch of this nearly 12,000-ton warship, the largest first-class ship ever built for the Chinese Navy, at Jiangnan Changxing Shipyard in Shanghai.
The ship that was launched a day later will now join its twin launched a year ago, at the same shipyard, and followed by two other hulls currently under construction in another Chinese shipyard in the North, the Dalian Shipyard in Liaoning, where the 2nd Chinese aircraft carrier is also built there.
And the aerial imagery shows that two more Type 055s, in blocks and modules at the moment, have already been put on hold in these two shipyards, bringing the known number of this new Chinese destroyer class to six units, at a minimum. Their launch could be considered by the end of 2019.
Finally, the last vessel of the Chinese Navy that was launched is a build-up serving as a test bench for weapons and equipment, known a priori under the class reference Type 910.
Built at the Wuhu Shipyard in eastern China, Anhui, the ceremony of cutting the first sheet of the ship was linked on May 11, 2017 in the presence of officials of several naval test centers of the Chinese Navy, as well as the 708 Institute responsible for its design, and CINF, a Chinese institute specializing in non-ferrous metallurgy.
According to some sources in China, this new Type 910 would be used for "specific project" tests and will join a fairly large fleet of Chinese test-bed vessels, consisting of two Type 909 / Type 909A for surface equipment testing (radars, missile systems...), and two existing Type 910s for submarine weapon system testing.
It is believed that this new Type 910 is expected to displace approximately 6,000 tonnes.
(…)
Henri Kenhmann
http://www.eastpendulum.com/type-05...ouveaux-navires-chinois-mis-a-leau-en-silence
