Posted on 10/05/2017 12:25:45 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Chinese state television has broadcast the first clear, overhead view of the Chinese navys first Type 055 cruiser. The image confirms what foreign analysts have expected since the new cruiser began taking shape in 2014.
The Type 055 carries no fewer than 122 missiles in vertical cells any mix of anti-air, anti-ship and land-attack models. That matches the weapons-loadout of the U.S. Navys Ticonderoga-class cruisers and exceeds the armament of every other surface warship in the Pacific region.
The new cruiser could enter service as early as 2018.
The Type 055 which is an estimate 590 feet long and displaces at least 10,000 tons represents a new class of warship for the Chinese navy. When Beijing launched its naval rearmament program in the 1990s, it focused on building large numbers of small- and medium-size corvettes, frigates and destroyers.
USS Lake Champlain, a Ticonderoga-class cruiser. U.S. Navy photo
These surface vessels patrol the Chinese coast, sail independently or in small groups to deter pirates in the Indian Ocean or act as escorts for Chinas new amphibious assault ships and the countrys so far sole aircraft carrier, the refurbished, ex-Russian Liaoning.
Prior to the Type 055, the biggest surface combatant in the Chinese fleet was the 7,500-ton-displacement Type o52D destroyer, six of which were in service and several others fitting out as of October 2017. A Type 052D carries 64 missiles in vertical cells.
For comparison, the U.S. Navys 9,600-ton Arleigh Burke-class destroyers boast as many as 96 missile cells. Japans Atago-class destroyers, displacing 10,000 tons, also feature 96 cells. The 11,500-ton Russian cruiser Varyag, the biggest vessel in Moscows Pacific fleet, carries 120 missiles.
With the Type 055, China has caught up to, or surpassed, the other Pacific powers in terms of sheer seagoing firepower. Per ship. But the Chinese fleet still lags behind the United States and barely exceeds Japan in the overall number of seagoing vertical missile cells, a useful shorthand for naval power.
Chinas 39 modern destroyers and frigates not counting the Type 055 together can deploy around 1,500 cells. The U.S. Pacific Fleets 36 Burkes and 12 Ticonderogas together possess nearly 5,000 missile cells. Japans 19 modern destroyers carry around 1,000 cells, combined.
China’s shipbuilding capacity, for warships, is less than either the US or Japan.
They have a ways to catch up.
With effort, they could. And both the US and Japan could significantly increase too.
The technology gap is still significant too. Our stuff is better across the board. And the Japanese get access to any and all of it.
Thanks to the free traitors, yet another Chinese weapon system we paid for.
#1 is still South Korea’s Sejong the Great-class destroyers with 128
“With vertical launch you get egg roll.”
Now that’s funny right there! I have a Chinese coworker who has a sticker on her cubicle that says, “Cat, the other white meat.”
Says she, “loves cat, it’s pretty good.”
Thanks for the laugh!
This is blow back fro the handiwork of the Free Traitor that has no allegiance except to corporate profit.
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