China is rapidly expanding its naval forces. Today, June 28, the chinatimes.com portal reported that the launch ceremony of a new generation destroyer was held at the Jiangnan Shipyard located in Shanghai.

The development of Type 055 destroyers first became known in April 2014, when a large-scale mock-up of the new ship was spotted at the Chinese naval test site in Wuhan. In 2014, American experts classified the new ship as a cruiser and considered that its construction could begin as early as 2016. However, according to Chinese media reports, the contract for the construction of the destroyer was signed in August 2014, and a few months later it was laid down.

Model of the Type 055 destroyer
nevskii-bastion.ru

According to unofficial data, the ship's displacement is over 10,000 tons (full - over 12,000 tons). The destroyer was built using stealth technologies and is equipped with a gas turbine electric generator with a power of about 100 mW, which allows the use of laser weapons. The length of the ship exceeds 180 m, the width is about 20 m.

The solemn ceremony of launching the first destroyer of the Type 055 project
chinatimes.com

The ship is armed with launchers with a total capacity of 128 missiles of various types, one 130-mm artillery gun, as well as several smaller-caliber rapid-firing gun mounts. In addition, the destroyer is equipped with a platform and hangar for two helicopters. It is planned that the tests of the ship will last until 2019, after which it will go on combat duty.

Universal launchers for Type 055 destroyers are compatible with various types of missiles
chinamil.com.cn

China Central Television reported that the shipyard Jianghan Shipyard The lead ship of the Type 055 series of destroyers or destroyers was launched in Shanghai.

The Chinese launched their version of the Zumwalt

This warship was laid down on December 27, 2014, and this tells us that exactly six months passed from the start of construction of the destroyer to its completion. The exact appearance of the ship is still not known - the Chinese are keeping this information secret, but the displacement of 12 thousand tons suggests that these will be the largest ships of this class after the American Zumwalt-class destroyers, which was launched in 2013 and a long time ago became a media hero.

This is a multifunctional ship, which, like the destroyers of the previous generation - Type 052D, has as weapons vertical launch systems for various types of missiles of the so-called cellular type - this is the Chinese analogue of the famous American launcher.

This circumstance allows ships of this type to perform a wide range of military missions - from strengthening zonal air defense, missile defense and anti-aircraft defense to joining aircraft carrier strike groups.

It is noteworthy that the armament of this warship has “Russian roots” - these are missile systems such as the HQ-9, which is a Chinese version of the S-300, as well as the HQ-16, which is a Russian-Chinese modernization of the domestic Shtil air defense system.

Other components of the missile defense and air defense systems copy the American Aegis system - for example, the HQ-26 is a direct analogue of the SM-3, and the FL-3000N air defense system is a RAM close-in defense complex.

Interestingly, the strike functions on the Type 055 will be carried out by the YJ-18 missile system, which is the Chinese index of the Russian Kalibr-type cruise missile.

Type 055 is being created by China for operations on the high seas

You also need to pay attention to the important fact that the appearance of the new ship has the most reduced ship superstructures, which is necessary for the Type 055 to achieve the greatest stealth, and this copies the US approach when designing the Zumwalt.

According to The Diplomat columnist Bob Farley, the Type 055 destroyers are built to serve as the lead ship of a long-range naval group or an escort ship in a Chinese Navy carrier strike group.

China needs this in order to demonstrate to all potential adversaries the increased power and operational range of modern Chinese naval forces.

All this suggests that today China is paying increased attention to the needs of the national navy, and Beijing is relying on the navy, pursuing not only defensive goals, since other components are sufficient to achieve such goals, but in order to ensure Chinese operational presence within the world's oceans.

China is implementing the Maritime Silk Road

Head of the Economics and Politics Sector, IMEMO RAS Sergei Lukonin in conversation with FBA "Economy Today" noted that China’s focus on building a large navy is part of the implementation of the “Maritime Silk Road” concept.

“This is all part of the Chinese “one belt and one road” initiative, for which Beijing needs to build economic growth points throughout the entire maritime part of this project so that the process of transporting goods to Europe is painless,” concludes Lukonin.

To do this, as Sergei Aleksandrovich notes, China will build support bases along the entire route, and the new Chinese Navy will have to protect all these projects.

“The Chinese will not spare any expense for this, not to mention the fact that Beijing is going to organize free economic zones in such ports. All this is already positioned as direct Chinese economic interests, as a result of which investments in the Chinese navy today are unprecedented for this country,” sums up Lukonin.

This indicates that China is currently placing its main emphasis on the development of its own naval forces, not to mention the innovative subtext in this entire strategic project.

Beijing is creating naval strongholds all the way to the Suez Canal

“The Chinese today are specifically implementing such megaprojects so that this will serve as an innovative factor for the development of China’s national industry, so that this country can independently produce and design all the necessary types of military equipment. And here it should be noted that the Chinese are heading towards success,” states Lukonin.

As for the maritime version of the Silk Road, as the expert notes, this is a route from China to Europe, and its points can be traced to Chinese geopolitical initiatives.

“China today is investing in many ports from Asia to Europe - in particular, Pakistani Gwardar. Here, the Chinese are also fulfilling the strategic task of providing themselves with energy resources - in this regard, this is a duplicate supply route for Beijing. In addition, one can recall Chinese investments in the Maldives and Sri Lanka, as well as the military base that has been built today in the state of Djibouti,” concludes Lukonin.

The military base in Djibouti is very significant here, since this country is located just before the entrance to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, i.e. to the trade gates of the European Union.

Suffice it to recall the opening of the second branch of the Suez Canal in 2015, which was carried out in Egypt with a significant role of Chinese capital.

The missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov is the second ship of Project 1164 Atlant (NATO code - Slava class).

This class of Soviet missile cruisers occupies an intermediate position between ships of the Ushakov type (Project 1144 Orlan, formerly Kirov) and destroyers of the Sovremenny type (Project 956). Atlant-class missile cruisers with powerful surface-to-surface missile weapons became an important part of the Russian Navy after the division of the USSR fleet. The lead ship of this project is the Guards Missile Cruiser (commissioned on December 30, 1982). Named in honor of the USSR Minister of Defense, Marshal of the Soviet Union D.F. Ustinova.

A total of 4 cruisers of this type were built, and 3 were commissioned.

The developer of the 1164 Atlant project is the Northern Design Bureau.

Project 1164 missile cruisers are designed to strike enemy strike groups and large ships, to ensure the combat stability of anti-submarine search and strike groups of ships, as well as to perform collective air defense tasks for formations and convoys in remote areas of the world's oceans. The auxiliary tasks of ships of this class are fire support for landing forces, anti-submarine warfare, and shelling of the coastline occupied by the enemy.

The missile cruiser "Marshal Ustinov" was laid down under the name "Admiral of the Fleet Lobov" (building number 2009) on October 5, 1978 at the shipyard named after 61 Communards in Nikolaev. Launched on February 25, 1982. On March 23, 1985 it was renamed “Marshal Ustinov”. On September 15, 1986 it was put into operation, and on November 5 it was included in the Northern Fleet. Home port Severomorsk. It had the following tail numbers: 118 (1986), 088 (1987), 070 (1990), 055 (since 1993).

Main characteristics: Displacement 11280 tons. Length 186.5 meters, beam 20.8 meters, draft 7.6 meters. Maximum speed 32 knots, economical speed 18 knots. Cruising range 7500 miles. Autonomy 30 days. The crew is 476 people, maximum 510 people.

Power is supplied from 4 engines each with a power of 22500 hp, as well as from two engines each with a power of 7700 hp. Total power is 105,000 hp.

Weapons:

Artillery: 1 × 2 AK-130.

Anti-aircraft artillery: 6 AK-630 guns.

Missile armament: 16 anti-aircraft missile launchers (P-1000 "Vulcan"), 64 launchers for the S-300F "Fort" air defense system, 2 × 2 "Osa-MA" air defense systems.

Mine and torpedo armament: 2 × 5 533 mm torpedo tubes.

Aviation group: 1 Ka-27 helicopter.

In 1989, he completed combat service tasks in the Mediterranean Sea. From July 21 to July 29, 1989, he paid an official visit to the Norfolk Naval Base, Virginia (USA).

From 1994 to December 17, 1997, it was undergoing scheduled repairs at the St. Petersburg JSC Severnaya Verf. During the renovation, the main power plant was replaced.

In May 1995, she took part as a flagship ship in the naval parade in St. Petersburg in honor of the 50th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War.

In July 1996, she participated as a flagship ship in the naval parade in St. Petersburg in honor of the 300th anniversary of the Russian Fleet.

In January 2001, he began navigation repairs at SRZ-35 of JSC Zvezdochka. On February 21, the city of Minsk, the capital of Belarus, took patronage of the cruiser, whose delegation visited the ship, which was under repair. Legally, this fact was secured by an agreement signed by the chairman of the Minsk City Executive Committee and the ship’s commander.

From September 21 to October 22, 2004, he took part in the long-distance voyage of the Northern Fleet carrier group to the northeastern part of the Atlantic.

On July 17, 2008, the cruiser was patrolling the waters of the Arctic Ocean around Spitsbergen, taking over from a large anti-submarine ship, due to the fact that “Norway is preventing Russian fishermen from working in these waters.”

Since July 2011, it has been undergoing major repairs at the Zvezdochka shipyard.

On December 1, 2014, the official representative of the Zvezdochka shipyard, Evgeny Gladyshev, stated that in the third quarter of 2015 the ship will begin the factory sea trials program. The ship will be handed over to the Navy in the fourth quarter.

According to a message dated June 27, 2015, during a meeting at Zvyozdochka, the Navy Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Viktor Chirkov, set the task for the enterprise and contractors of the missile cruiser this year to ensure the readiness of its transition to its home base in the city of Severomorsk. According to a message dated February 17, 2016, on board the missile cruiser, which is undergoing factory repairs at the Zvezdochka Shipbuilding Center (Severodvinsk), to practice the crew’s actions in the event of emergencies related to the elimination of various types of smoke and fires. The fire service crews of the ship repair plant were also involved in the exercise. On October 30, 2016, the cruiser was launched to complete the factory sea trials program. The transition to a permanent location is planned for the fourth quarter of 2016. On November 5, in the waters of the White Sea, the crew of the missile cruiser celebrated an anniversary - the 30th anniversary of its admission into the Northern Fleet. On November 30, at the pier of the Zvezdochka Ship Repair Center, having completed the factory sea trials program. On December 24, the CS “Zvezdochka” docked and set off for its permanent base in Severomorsk, accompanied by the icebreaker “Ruslan”.

According to a message dated May 12, 2017, in the Barents Sea to carry out elements of the second course task according to the combat training plan. On May 16, a complex of artillery firing at a naval target in coastal ranges in the Barents Sea. May 25 in the Barents Sea to participate in the exercise, which will take place as part of the annual practical training with students of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. According to a message from June 16, combat training exercises during a short exit to the Barents Sea. June 17 in the Barents Sea to practice interaction as part of the formation. On June 29, he left Severomorsk and made the transition to the Baltic to participate in the Main Naval Parade. According to a message dated July 4, inter-fleet transition from the Northern Fleet to the Baltic. According to a message dated December 1, to the Northern Fleet training grounds in the Barents Sea to increase the naval training of the crew, improve skills in combating survivability while on the move, as well as testing navigation and radio systems. On December 26, at the combat training grounds of the Northern Fleet in the Barents Sea, a series of combat training tasks were carried out in cooperation with aircraft and helicopters of the Air Force and Air Defense Army.

According to a message dated March 29, 2018, in the Barents Sea to perform combat training missions at the combat training grounds of the Northern Fleet. According to a message dated June 10, the missile cruiser was refueling. According to a message dated August 22 in the Mediterranean Sea. On August 29, he took part in an exercise with ships of the Northern Fleet in the southern part of the Norwegian Sea and began performing long-distance missions. On August 29, a business call at the port of Algiers, the capital of the Algerian People's Democratic Republic, entered the Mediterranean Sea. On September 10, a business call to the port city of Alexandria in the Republic of Egypt, founded by Alexander the Great. According to a message dated September 15, during the anchorage, I replenished fuel reserves from the medium sea tanker Vyazma.

I translated it myself, so sorry for my English, I’ve only been restoring my knowledge of the language for six months after a 17-year break). I removed the water about the shipyards and left only about the destroyer.

Photos posted on Chinese online forums show the second Type 055 destroyer commissioned by the PLA Navy was launched at Jiangnan Changxingdao Shipyard in Shanghai on April 28. While the launch of the first destroyer of the type in June 2017 was accompanied by significant media coverage, official confirmation of the launch of the second destroyer has yet to emerge.

The Type 055 is the largest class of surface combatants built for the Chinese Navy. It measures 180 meters in length and has an estimated displacement of over 10,000 tons (11,023 t), making it comparable in size to the US Navy's Ticonderoga-class cruisers.

Its main armament is 112 vertical missile launchers, which are expected to consist of a combination of surface-to-air missiles, surface-to-surface anti-submarine weapons and cruise missiles.

The ships are likely to be a key component of escorting aircraft carriers and will form one of the foundations of the AUG.

Two shipyards, Changxingdao and Dalian, build Type 055 squadron mines. Changxingdao has been the leading site for destroyer construction for the Chinese Navy since 2008, when the Jiangnan shipyard moved from central Shanghai to an island at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

Since 2010, four Type 052C destroyers and 10 Type 052D destroyers have been launched at Changxingdao.

I'll attach an old article

China is actively building the first two “large missile destroyers” Type 055, Military Parity reports citing chinatimes.com (June 23).

It is expected that both ships could be launched this year. The destroyer's displacement is about 10 thousand tons, the construction cost is very high, which is not surprising - the ship has the most complex high-tech combat and electronic systems, which brings its capabilities closer to the American Aegis class. Construction of two more is underway. According to American experts, the program is moving forward “at an alarming rate” (all four ships are being built in Dalian).

Construction of the lead ship began in 2010; in 2016, the hull already had clear outlines, the source writes. In August 2016, work began on the superstructure ( on the Chinese Internet the lead ship is called Renhai - at. VP).

According to some reports, the length of the destroyer is 183 m, width 22 m, standard displacement 9000 tons, total displacement 12300 tons, maximum speed 32 knots, cruising range more than 12500 miles, crew 310 people. The ship is equipped with two UVP (each for 64 missiles of various classes - missiles, anti-ship missiles, missiles), there is a 130 mm gun mount, and there is a hangar for a helicopter.

Bourgeois Wikipedia writes that the series should consist of 16 ships, 5 under construction.

Purpose

The purpose of the promising ships is to provide and strengthen zonal missile defense, air defense and anti-aircraft defense of Chinese naval strike groups, including aircraft carrier formations (ACG). According to some sources, each aircraft carrier formation, in addition to the aircraft carrier, four Type 052D destroyers and four Type 054A frigates should also include two Type 055 destroyers. Previously, the Chinese military leadership announced plans to have at least 3 such aircraft carrier formations.

Design

As of February 2014, it is not known what the structural appearance of type 055 will be, whether it will be a further development of the type 052D ship (the same architectural and structural type) or will have a completely new structural appearance with superstructures as reduced as possible

Armament

It is planned that on ships of type 055, just like on ships of the previous type 052D, the main armament will be placed in vertical launch systems of a modular-cellular type for 8 anti-aircraft, anti-submarine or tactical cruise missiles each (128 missiles in total). 8 modules are located in the bow of the ship in front of the superstructure, 8 others are located in the aft part of the superstructure in front of the helicopter hangar. It is possible that for the new, most promising Chinese hypersonic ballistic anti-ship missiles DF-26, which do not fit into the dimensions of the UVP cells (0.85 m), a separate UVP will be developed and placed on the ships of the project.

The ship's anti-aircraft missile armament will be represented by HQ-9A and HQ-16 long- and medium-range anti-aircraft missiles and (or) advanced HQ-26 missiles (analogous to the American SM-3), as well as 1-2 short-range air defense systems FL-3000N (analogue American short-range air defense missile system RAM), in addition, the ship will carry several 30-mm 11-barrel short-range anti-aircraft artillery systems Type 1130 (rate of fire for one installation is 10,000 rounds per minute).

Anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons can be represented by both YJ-18 missiles and more promising developments.

Type 055 destroyers The People's Liberation Army Navy wants to receive a large number of modern ships capable of solving a wide range of tasks in the ocean zone and ensuring a fleet presence in strategically important regions. To meet such requirements, the construction of the newest destroyers of Project 055 is underway. According to reports in Chinese and foreign media, on August 24, the first destroyer of Project 055, Nanchang, set out to sea for the first time from Shanghai. This ship was built in Shanghai at the Jiangnan-Changxing plant, part of the state shipbuilding corporation China Shipbuilding State Corporation. Over the next few months, the ship will have to pass all the necessary tests, based on the results of which it will be able to enter service. According to current plans, the destroyer will join the Navy next year in 2019. The ceremonial laying of the lead destroyer “055” took place in 2014. At the end of June 2017, the ship was launched, after which construction began on the quay wall. It took about a year to install all the necessary equipment and test the installed systems. It is expected that the emergence of a series of new Project 055 destroyers will have a serious impact on the state of the PLA Navy, as well as on the balance of forces in the Asia-Pacific region. According to various estimates, these ships can become one of the most serious forces in the Pacific Ocean. These estimates are based on available information about the characteristics and combat qualities, as well as the quantity and quality of weapons on board. The 055 type destroyer is a large surface ship built using modern technologies and current developments. It has a length of 180 m with a width of up to 20 m and a normal draft of 6.6 m. The total displacement reaches 13 thousand tons, which directly affects the combat qualities of the ship. The main armament of the destroyer "055" are two universal vertical launchers. The first has 64 cells for transport and launch containers with missiles and is placed in front of the superstructure. The second includes 48 cells and is located in the center of the superstructure, in front of the hangar. The cell of such an installation has a diameter of 850 mm and a length of about 9 m. It is possible to use missiles with mortar launch and “hot” launch. Thanks to this, the destroyer can use all major types of existing Chinese-made naval missiles.

To attack enemy surface ships, the destroyer must use YJ-18 missiles with a flight range of up to 540 km. The main part of the trajectory of such a weapon travels at subsonic speed, and in the final section it accelerates to M=3. It is proposed to use a ship-based modification of the CJ-10 “land” cruise missiles against coastal targets. Such a product is capable of delivering a 500-kg warhead to a range of up to 1,500 km.

From the point of view of technical features and capabilities, the new 055 destroyers can be considered direct competitors of the American Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers. Existing and promising US destroyers - the Arleigh Bukre and Zumwalt projects - cannot be fully considered analogues or rivals of the Chinese ship, since they are inferior in the size of their ammunition load. At the same time, Zumwalt-class destroyers are slightly larger than the 055-class ship, and also have a large displacement - up to 15-16 thousand tons.