China’s new Type 055 Destroyer Now Matches The Indian Destroyers Under Production
Finally, the first domestically developed Type 055 Nanchang made its debut as a special birthday present to the PLA Navy, as the warship will reportedly join its North China Sea Fleet. With a displacement of more than 10,000 tons, the Type 055 can carry more weapons and equipment than any other Chinese destroyer.
The warship has
• 8x 8 unit vertical launch systems (VLS) in the front deck and 6x 8-unit VLS in the middle, a total of 112 VLS units, the most among Chinese destroyers, By comparison, China’s Type 052D destroyer has only 64, the US’ Arleigh Burke-class destroyer has 96, and the US’ Ticonderoga-class cruiser has 122. These VLS units use the latest standard design of the PLA Navy, giving them both hot launch and cold launch abilities. A hot launch means a missile ignites in its cell, and a cold launch means a missile is ejected from the launch cell before it ignites.Missiles armed within the VLS units include air defense missiles, anti-ship missiles and anti-submarine missiles and may also have land-attack missiles.
• For the air defense the ship has HHQ-9B long-range air defense missiles with range of 200km and HQ-16B mid-range air defense missiles with 40 km range. For close-range it has a variant of DK10 surface-to-air missile
• With regards to surface to surface combat, it is equipped with YJ-18 anti-ship missiles with 500km range. This type of missile can fly at high subsonic speed upon launch, but accelerate to between Mach 2.5 and Mach 3 when approaching its target.
This design keeps the missile light and far-reaching, while also giving the enemy as little reaction time as possible. The YJ-18 carries a heavy explosive warhead, which, combined with the enormous kinetic energy from the fast speed, can severely damage a warship with tens of thousands of tons of displacement with only one strike.
• For anti-submarine role it is l equipped with Y-8 anti-submarine missiles and torpedoes. The warship is also equipped with an advanced sonar system and can carry 1x medium-to large-sized anti-submarine helicopter on board.
• The main gun of the warship has an improved version of the 130 millimeter single-barreled H/PJ45A-130-1. The gun can shoot 40 shells a minute, and a normal shell can travel 30 kilometers, while a rocket-propelled guided shell could hit targets even farther and more accurately.
• The ship is also equipped with a Type 1130 close-in weapon system that can shoot tens of thousands of bullets per minute to neutralize incoming missiles. It also has a 24-unit HHQ-10 close-range anti-missile system that can effectively intercept supersonic anti-ship missiles.
With such strong firepower, the Type 055 can either serve as a powerful escort to an aircraft carrier, or lead a flotilla sailing across the globe, as it also has very long operational range. The Type 055 is also equipped with very advanced radar and electronic control systems, which allow it to make the best of these weapons.
With the Nanchang joining the PLA naval service, more Type 055s are being manufactured. A second one was launched in April 2018 in Shanghai, while the third and fourth ones were launched in July 2018 in Dalian, Northeast China’s Liaoning Province, and more are expected to come.
Military observers say that the Type 055 might see variants in the future that could carry China’s futuristic electromagnetic railgun, which can shoot hypersonic projectiles at Mach 7.It might also upgrade its arsenal to serve as an antiballistic missile platform, the anonymous expert said.
The Indian Naval Ship to welcome the Chinese 055 destroyers, if they try and venture into the Indian Ocean Region will be the Visakhapatnam class destroyers.
These share similar dimensions to the previous Kolkata class, however it incorporates a flush deck, a better acoustic signature and infrared signature reduction systems. The class has a displacement of 7,400 tones.
It has been designed by Indian Navy’s in-house unit Directorate of Naval Design. It has Integrated Platform Management System, Automated Power Management System, main switchboard, degaussing system and DA local control panels.
The class has a length of 163 m, a beam of 17.4 m and a draught of 6.5 m and a maximum speed of over 30 knots. Aviation facilities include an enclosed deck and is capable of operating two helicopters simultaneously.
This class of warship will have
• A total of 48 x Universal Vertical Launcher Module
• For air defence it will have 32xBarak8 ER Surface to Air Missiles with 150km range
• 16x BRAMHOS Supersonic cruise missile will provide anti ship / land attack capability with a range of 500km and soon to be extended to 800km.
• 4x AK 630 Close in weapon system will provide the ship with close-in-defence capability.
• 2x tube torpedo launchers and RBU-6000 Smerch-2 rocket launchers will provide anti-submarine warfarecapability.
• The primary radar sensor of the class is the EL/M-2248 MF-STARmulti-mission AESA. It is also equipped with Thales LW-08 long range volume search radar.
• It will also have Nirbhayland-attack cruise missile with 1500 km range
• The class will be armed with a 127 mm main gun
Each ship of the class will have a complement of 50 officers and 250 sailors.
There is little difference in the external appearance of Project 15A Kolkata class and the Project 15B Visakhapatnam as they share the same hull design. However, they differ in internal fitments that separates the two destroyer classes.
The sonar will be relocated from hull to the bow. A revised bridge layout and mast design to reduce radar cross-section. A rail-less helicopter traversing system to secure the helicopter.A network-centric layout with a Ship Data Network (SDN), an Automatic Power Management System (APMS) and a Combat Management System (CMS).
The Indian Destroyers are well matched notwithstanding the 112 VLS compared to only 48 of ours. The Indian Navy ships will be operating in own waters and under tge protective cover of the IAF apart from the Naval fighters. Yes what is required is the matching numbers. Chinese will be manufacturing 24 to 36 of these destroyers.
Out of these they may be able to spare around 6 to 8 for the Indian Ocean. Hence we need to place orders for 12 more of these ships to have a total of 16 of this class.
To speed up these additional orders will have to go to all three Yards that is Mazagaon, Garden Reach and Goa Shipyard. Also the RAJPUT class need to be replaced with a 10000 ton new class of Destroyer.
