Free Republic

Our colleagues from East Pendulum are reporting that the Huangpu Shipyard of the Chinese naval group CSSC launched a Type 054A frigate for People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or Chinese Navy) on September 22nd. This is the 14th frigate of this class (designated Jiangkai II-class by NATO) built in this shipyard, located near the city of Guangzhou in southern China, and the 28th overall in the series. The 27th Type 054A was launched less than 6 months ago, showing once again the fast pace of China's naval shipbuilding industry. Note that this new frigate is also the 3rd one to...

The August issue of Russia's National Defense Magazine has advised the country to buy warships from China to compensate for its own weakness in shipbuilding and to strengthen Russia's power in the Asia-Pacific region. China's Type 054A frigate may be an ideal option for Russia, the report said. With debate sparked by the suspension of a French delivery of two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships to Russia, the need to bring in escort ships is all the more pressing. Even if Russia receives the two warships — the Vladivostok and the Sevastopol — and integrates them into the fleet in the...

The Yueyang, a Type 054A guided-missile frigate of the People's Liberation Army Navy, is participating in the ongoing RIMPAC 2014 joint naval exercise held in Hawaii, and the country is already underway constructing more frigates of the same class, reports the state-run China News Service. The Yueyang is in fact the 14th vessel among its other sister ships. With 575 as its hull number, the vessel was launched on May 10, 2012, and began its sea trials in September of that year before eventually entering the PLA Navy in March, 2013. The Yueyang, like other ships of its class, is...