Four new destroyers are under construction in Jiangnan shipyard for the Chinese PLA Navy. Based on the Type 052 Zhanjiang [Luhu] class, they will carry a mix of Russian and Chinese-built weapons, and are optimized for air defense. The Type 052B class is a DDG equivalent to the Sovremennyy. Displacement has been reported as anything between 6,000 - 8,500 tons, with CODOG propulsion on Chinese-built gas turbines. There is some shaping of the hulls to reduce the overall RCS, but whether it will be effective depends on many details. There is no information on whether RAM was used anywhere in the design. Armament includes F/A two Shtil (export SA-N-7), along with at least four MR-90 Orekh [Front Dome] directors. It has a new 100mm gun, based on the French Creusot-Loire model, but with a low-RCS gunhouse. It also has P/S(R)2 new Type 730 23mm CIWS. No stats about this weapon are available, but it has both an onboard radar and an EO/FLIR tracker. It may or may not be autonomous in Harpoon terms. There are (4)4 SSMs which might be either the YJ-82 or new YJ-83 SSM. There are P/S(18)4 rocket launchers of unknown purpose. They could carry ASW projectiles, countermeasures, or be intended for bombardment of ground targets. The sensor suite includes a new 3D radar and a Band Stand-series radar for SSM guidance. It will probably also be fitted with an air search and surface-search radar, but whether they will be Chinese or Russian is not known. The sonar suite is also unknown. Guangzhou (168), the first 052B, was launched on 25 May 2002, and hull 169 in October 2002. The second pair of ships, the Type 052C class, are not as far advanced. They have the same hull and CODOG propulsion as the 052Bs, and limited data suggests a 7000 - Chinese Yiangji-83 (export C803) SSM 8000 ton displacement. They are also being built at Jiangnan shipyard. Lanzhou (170) was launched on 29 Apr 2003. A second unit, 171(?) is still on the ways. These ships appear to be even more AAW-oriented than the 052Bs. They will carry a long-range SAM fired from a vertical launcher system. This may be the new Chinese HHQ-9 SAM system, or the Russian Rif, an export version of the Fort [SA-N-6]. The ships’ superstructure, still incomplete, show openings for a fixed four-faced radar. A variant of the Land-based Tombstone phased-array 3D radar, associated with the S-300/Rif system, may intended for those openings. The ship also will have two of the Type 730 CIWS, SSMs of possibly an even more advanced design (but more likely YJ-83s), and two helicopters and a hangar. There are too many unknowns in both the ships and their weapons systems to try to produce Harpoon statistics. On the other hand, an interesting scenario might be built around trying to discover what the capabilities of a brand-new Chinese destroyer on sea trials are. Only the referee knows for sure. BT Back to The Naval Sitrep # 24 Table of Contents Back to Naval Sitrep List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by Larry Bond and Clash of Arms. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history and related articles are available at http://www.magweb.com