Project Sword
Wen Junjian. According to the Global Times, citing Indian mediaAt a time when the Palestinian-Israeli conflict intensified and missiles and drones flew all over the Red Sea and other waters, India finally couldn't bear it anymore and decided to export the Red Sea to the relevant sea areas of the Arabian Sea to dispatch the "Indian Aegis" fleet to meet all kinds of missile drones aimed at oil tankers and other targets.
According to Indian media reports,Recently 2 off the coast of Indianautical oil tankers ".mv chem pluto"Encountered" IranShahed 136 loitering ammunition"The blow. Obviously, this incident has seriously irritated India's glass heart, because the waters of the incident are the Arabian Sea, which is considered by India to be "at the doorstep". India is so angry that it must retaliate, and it is currently according to the planIndia is going to arrange for three Calcutta-class destroyersshipsVisakhapatnam-class destroyerPatrols are carried out at the exit of the Red Sea, near Yemen, in the waters of the Arabian Sea. And at the same time,p-8Patrol aircraft,mq-9bThere will also be maritime patrols, which will also be joined by the Indian Coast Guard.
India's dispatch of five "shield ships" with such fanfare, but only to deal with the "slipper army" of the Houthis, makes people feel that it is a bit of a fuss. Of course, there is practical significance, because the Houthi drones are really difficult to defend against, and after the "MV Chem Pluto" was shot, India could not hold back on face, so it could only send out 5 of the 6 "shield ships", and if it were not for the only remaining 1 that had just entered service, the Indian Navy might also send it out.
If we deeply analyze India's intentions, we can find that India's true intention of "killing chickens with a knife" may be deliberately taking the opportunity to show its strength. One could even say,India is flexing its muscles for China.
Because India not only launched its elite this time, but also chose the sea area that just included the waters of the Gulf of Aden, and the 45th batch of escort formations of the Chinese Navy happened to be carrying out peaceful escort missions in relevant sea areas. Recently, US fans have also hyped the news that "the PLA 052D approached the US aircraft carrier in the Red Sea", which may also be because the 052D Urumqi ship happened to be escorting in the relevant sea area.
India likes to compare its own ** with China, for example, for 052D, India likes to compare with Calcutta-class destroyers. Previously, "Indian Defense News" even published a special article to conduct a detailed "parameter comparison" between the two, and the Indian media depreciated 052d in various ways in the process of comparison, and finally came to the conclusion that Calcutta was "better". The Indian media touted the "Barak-8" anti-aircraft missile obtained by the Indian Navy from Israel, and touted the "BrahMos" anti-ship missile developed with Russian support, believing that the 052D was not a Kolkata-class opponent, and if it encountered a "BrahMos" salvo, it would be "finished".
As for the 055 drive, India doesn't seem to compare it, mainly because India doesn't have a 10,000-ton drive yet, and the Visakhapatnam class is just an enlarged version of the Kolkata class. However, India has a P-18 destroyer program, which is expected to have a displacement of 13,000 tons and 144 vertical systems.
As for the P-18 project, the Indian media advocated that it would be "comparable to China and the United States". And the number of P-18s will also be built 8 ships, which seems to be the benchmark for 8 055 large drives. The only difference is that 8 055 drives are already in sight, while 8 Indian P-18s are not yet known to be in **.