As we all know, since the emergence of China's 055000000 ton destroyer, countries have paid great attention to it, and any bit of wind and grass about the 055 destroyer will attract the attention of netizens and military experts at home and abroad. Previously, there was a debate in the foreign media, the 13,000-ton displacement of the 055 destroyer is a destroyer or a cruiser?
Some foreign netizens said: "Due to its size, 055 should be considered a cruiser and not a destroyer!" Some foreign netizens commented: "055 can be regarded as a destroyer, but in terms of the ** system, it is already a cruiser!" Some Korean netizens even threatened: "If 055 is considered a cruiser, then isn't South Korea's King Sejong class a battleship?" ”
In terms of tonnage, 055 can be considered a cruiser. 055 full load displacement about 130,000 tons, which is much higher than the more than 9,000 tons of the latest Burke 3 destroyer of the first class in the United States. But slightly less than the displacement of 14500 tons of the American "Zumwalt-class" ** destroyers. But it is worth noting that the "Zumwalt-class" of the United States is fast 150,000 tons, still called a destroyer!
The Americans will have only 1055, which is less than 30,000 tons, is called a cruiser, and it is estimated that everyone has a plan in their hearts, which is nothing more than letting everyone see the strength and threat of 055, and it has to be said that it is also a very double standard.
According to the international division of cruiser tonnage, surface ships of 8,000-30,000 tons can be regarded as cruisers in a broad sense. In the narrow sense, the tonnage of cruisers must exceed at least 11,000 tons, and at present, only South Korea's "King Sejong class", China's 055 and the United States' "Zumwalt class" have reached this level of global displacement. If these destroyers really want to be divided by tonnage, it would be right to say that they are cruisers. After all, such a tonnage, compared with the destroyers of five or six thousand tons in various countries today, it can indeed be regarded as a behemoth.
According to the division of the ** system, 055 is a veritable cruiser. The 055 destroyer has 112 vertical launch cells, and many people do not understand why the South Korean "King Sejong class" destroyer has a displacement of only 110,000 tons, but has up to 128 vertical launch cells, while the 055, which has a larger tonnage, has only 112 units? In fact, if you simply want the number of launch units, 055 can naturally have more, but what we need are anti-ship missiles and cruise missiles that can threaten aircraft carriers.
For example, the range of the YJ-21 anti-ship missile currently carried by China's 055 destroyer is as high as 1,500 kilometers, which is enough to strike at the aircraft carrier outside the strike range. However, such a long-range anti-ship missile naturally requires a larger and deeper vertical launch unit, which takes up a considerable amount of space on the ship.
In addition, our 112 vertical launch units can shoot four bombs in one pit, and they also have the ability to launch hot and cold frames, which is incomparable to the South Korean destroyers of the "King Sejong class". Therefore, it is not of much significance to simply compare the number of vertical launch units, and it is true how far the missile can be carried and whether it can threaten the enemy's important targets.
So judging from the number of ** and ** system that can be carried, 055 has undoubtedly already met the standards of a cruiser. But what we want to see is that whether a surface ship is a destroyer or a cruiser is often distinguished according to the purpose for which it was built and the tasks assigned to it. At the beginning of the construction of 055, it existed to protect the aircraft carrier, that is, the purpose of the aircraft carrier "guards with knives". So from this point of view, 055 is a destroyer and not a cruiser.