As 2023 is coming to an end, there must be many people who care about the national defense construction of the motherland and want to know what achievements have been made in the construction of the main battle equipment of the PLA Navy in this year.
First of all, let's take a look at the launch of the main combat ships, according to relevant statistics, the number of main combat ships under construction in the Chinese Navy in 2023 will reach 12, with a total tonnage of more than 110,000 tons.
The largest warship launched by the PLA Navy in 2023 is the 075 amphibious assault ship No. 4 launched at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard some time ago, with a full load displacement of about 40,000 tons, which directly raised the total tonnage of China's sea ** ships launched this year by a grade. It is worth mentioning that the 075 fourth ship was docked and built no earlier than 2023, and the launching time was in the middle of this month, which means that the ship took less than a year from construction to launch, which not only broke the construction speed record of China's 075 amphibious assault ship, but also left the construction speed of the American amphibious assault ship far behind.
Compared with the 071 amphibious dock landing ship in service, the 075 amphibious assault ship is equipped with a straight-through deck, has 6 large take-off and landing points, and can take off and land multiple vertical transportation at the same time The attack capability has been qualitatively improved. Below the deck is a large *** depot that can accommodate nearly 30 Z-8C, Z-20 and other *** These *** can project the strength of a marine battalion hundreds of kilometers away at a time. In addition, under the hangar is a large vehicle compartment and dock warehouse, which can accommodate hundreds of amphibious combat vehicles and 3 Type 726 air-cushion landing ships, and the loading capacity has been greatly improved compared with the 071 dock landing ship. Considering that the completion rate of the fourth ship is already very high when it is launched, the remaining outfitting work should not be too much, so the ship's commissioning in 2024 will be a high probability event.
In terms of destroyer construction, although the Chinese Navy will not launch a 0.55 million ton drive in 2023, it will still launch 4 improved 052D destroyers with a total tonnage of 30,000 tons, which is also very surprising. At present, Dalian Shipyard and Jiangnan Shipyard are building new batches of 052D destroyers at full speed, and the known number of built-up ships has reached 12, which means that 052D destroyers will continue to "dump" in the next year.
However, compared with the current 052D destroyers, the new batch of 052D destroyers has a very obvious change, the H LJQ-364 rapid response radar at the top of the mast of the island has been replaced with a double-sided X-band AESA fast reaction radar, which can significantly enhance the detection ability of the new 052D for low-altitude targets and stealth targets, giving the 052D a stronger defense capability. Considering that the 052D has a very high cost performance, the number of 052D destroyers is expected to exceed 40 in the future, becoming the second largest large destroyer in the world.
In addition to destroyers, the Chinese Navy will also be quite successful in the field of frigate construction in 2023, launching 2 new 054B destroyers in one go, with a total tonnage of 120,000 tons.
Compared with the 054A frigate, the 054B destroyer has a larger hull and a full load displacement of 6000 tons, which is already a standard large frigate. In the field of shipborne electronic systems, a double-sided S-band active phased array radar is installed on the bridge of the 054B, and a highly integrated rear mast is also installed in front of the chimney, and an X-band fast reflex radar is inside, so the ship's situational awareness has been greatly improved compared with the 054A, which is only equipped with traditional mechanical scanning radar, and can better adapt to the future high-intensity naval combat environment. In terms of equipment, the changes in 054B are mainly to replace a new 100mm automatic naval gun and YJ-12 heavy supersonic anti-ship missile, and at the same time have the ability to carry Z-20 anti-submarine ***, so 054B anti-ship capabilities and anti-submarine capabilities will be more advantageous.
In addition to surface ships, the PLA submarine construction has also delivered a satisfactory report card, with only 3 093B attack nuclear submarines and 2 039C conventional submarines launched in 2023, with a total tonnage of 30,000 tons. Like surface ships, China's submarine construction also adheres to the development idea of "small steps and fast running", and the 093B and 039C submarines launched this year have improved to a certain extent compared with the current models.
According to foreign speculation, the new 093B nuclear submarine may have adopted pump propulsion technology, and its mute capability has been significantly improved, and its comprehensive combat capability can be comparable to that of the "Virginia" class nuclear submarines that the US Navy listed in the early days. In terms of attack capability, the 093B nuclear submarine can not only carry YJ-18 anti-ship missiles and Changjian-10 cruise missiles, but also have the ability to launch hypersonic missiles, with a strike radius of more than 1,000 kilometers, which is enough to launch a long-range attack on the enemy's surface ship formation, which is another anti-aircraft carrier weapon in China.
In addition to the 093B nuclear submarine, the 039C conventional submarine is also a star equipment, this submarine uses a spindle-shaped command enclosure for the first time, and the underwater stealth capability has been improved to a certain extent compared with the 039B submarine. In terms of attack capability, the 039C submarine can also carry YJ-18 anti-ship missiles, which have strong long-range anti-ship combat capabilities and can strike at the enemy's large and medium-sized surface ships. However, unlike the 093B nuclear submarine, the main combat positioning of the 039C submarine is to carry out ambush missions in important shipping lanes near China, and the East China Sea, the South China Sea and the Philippine Sea are its future battlefields.
After talking about the main battle ships launched, let's take a look at the ships that entered the ranks. According to public information, the PLA Navy received 10 main combat ships in 2023, with a total tonnage of 60,000 tons, and the results are also very outstanding.
In the first half of this year, the South China Sea Fleet successively received two 055 destroyers, the two 10,000-ton warships were the "Zunyi" (ship number 107) and the "Xianyang" ship (ship number 108), and since then the first batch of eight 055 ships have all entered service.
As the first 10,000-ton destroyer independently designed and built by China, the 055 destroyer can be called luxurious in various configurations, and its comprehensive combat capability also ranks first among destroyers in the world. In size, the 055 destroyer has a full load displacement of close to 130,000 tons, which is larger than the tonnage of the cruisers in service in the United States, so the United States classified 055 as a cruiser from the beginning. In the field of shipboard electronic systems, the 055 destroyer is equipped with not only a large dual-band radar, but also uses integrated radio frequency technology, and its situational awareness capability greatly surpasses that of the "Arleigh Burke" destroyer being built by the United States. In terms of equipment, the 055 destroyer is equipped with 112 large universal vertical launch units, which can launch Haihongqi-9B C anti-aircraft missiles, YJ-18 anti-ship missiles, Changjian-10 cruise missiles and YJ-21 hypersonic missiles, giving the 055 destroyer a strong offensive and defensive capability.
And in the field of frigates, the Chinese Navy actually received 7 054A frigates in a year, and the speed is really surprising. As a medium-sized frigate with a full load displacement of 4,000 tons, the 054A has strong regional air defense, anti-submarine and anti-ship combat capabilities, and is very cost-effective. However, after the launch of the 054B frigate project, the construction of the 054A was stopped, which also reflects the higher requirements of the Chinese Navy for the performance of the frigate.
In the field of submarines, this year the Chinese Navy received a 039C submarine, and in terms of conventional submarines, China once again leads the world.
On the whole, the tonnage of the main combat ships launched and commissioned by the Chinese Navy this year has reached 170,000 tons, considering that the tonnage of the main combat ships launched and put into service by the US Navy this year is far less than 170,000 tons, which means that the tonnage of new ships of the Chinese Navy has once again achieved the world's first good results.
However, the fly in the ointment is that this year's Fujian ship did not complete the goal of the first sea trial, which is the only regret. Project Sword