Type 052D

The Type 052D is an air defense destroyer with multi-purpose capabilities designed and built in China for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The lead ship with no number assigned (172 was the first number for this class) was first seen on October 7, 2013, after completing sea trials. Externally is similar to the US Navy's DDG 51 Burke class destroyer including advanced phased array Aegis-like radar antennas at the bow castle. The PLAN commissioned the first Type 052D destroyer in March 2014 with these ships expected to operate in standalone mode or within the battle group of Chinese aircraft carriers. So far, Type 052 series destroyers performance has fallen behind the PLAN expectations with only two-six ships of each class being commissioned. If the Type 052D is up to the PLAN requirements and expectations this destroyer could be mass produced, along with Type 054A frigates and Type 056 corvettes, and commissioned in large numbers thus becoming the backbone and spearhead of China's surface fighting ships fleet. Taipei Times claims that China intends to build as many as 10 ships of this class but other reports aim at 4-6 destroyers or even 10-15 ships. So far three ships have been built or are under construction. Type 052D features an improved stealth design, second generation Chinese Aegis system, flight deck, hangar for at least one Ka-27 helicopter, a 130mm large caliber naval gun system at the bow, a Type 730 close-in weapon systems (CIWS) similar to Goalkeeper at the bow and Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) at the stern. The stern castle is also equipped with four anti-submarine rocket launchers. The Vertical Launch Systems (VLS) are located at the bow (4x8) and stern (4x8) right behind the helicopter hangar and can launch either Unai/HQ-9? surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) with a range of 250 kilometers and/or anti-ship missiles (YJ-62? or YJ-18). The new VLS are larger in size than their Western counterparts and are able to fire the DH-10? long-range, land attack cruise missiles with a maximum range of 1,500 kilometers. The 'Red Flag 10' HQ-10 fast reaction surface-to-air missile is intended incoming threats at short ranges. The primary mission is area anti-air warfare (AAW) and secondary anti-surface warfare (ASuW) utilizing vertically launched YJ-18 anti-ship missiles. The supersonic YJ-18 missiles are intended to kill Western Aegis-protected fighting ships. A hull-mounted sonar, three torpedo tubes at the stern, four ASW rocket launchers and ASW helicopter are provided to carry out anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions. The new active phased array radar system has the ability to detect airborne targets within the atmosphere such as fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and missiles as well as targets outside the atmosphere such as ballistic missiles and/or hypersonic cruise missiles. The radar system is capable of detecting, tracking and identifying hundreds of air and surface targets simultaneously while working in high clutter environment. Some reports suggest that the Type 052D radar system is comparable to the US Navy's Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) intended for the DDG 51 Flight III destroyers. Overall, the Type 052D class ship is intended to engage a wide range of airborne threats, ships, submarines and land targets. Besides, the 130mm naval gun can assist amphibious forces during landing operations on enemy shores.

deagel.com: https://www.deagel.com/x/x/a001828