Which of the new PLAN vessels in operational service?

[Transient]

As of this very second, which of China's newer vessels are in operational service? Are the 052Cs combat ready yet? How about the 054? As far as I know, only the 052B and the first 2 Sovs are in actual service. (Has the third Sov entered service?) Thanks.

 

[wp2000]

052C ships (170 and 172) have been officially handed over to PLAN for more than 6 months. 054 ships (525,526) have been officially in PLAN's hands for years. Couple of weeks ago, there's a chinese news report about 525 successfully intercepting 3 ASM drones in an excercise. In fact, as we are speaking, the 054A's first ship is about to launch. Hopefully we can see some pictures during this weekend.

 

[wp2000]

As of the Sovs, the first 2 were delivered in the last decade. The 2 new ones, 138 was delievered couple of months ago, 139 currently is on the way to China.

 

[Transient]

Thanks for the reply. But what I really wanted to know was if they were combat ready. Being handed over to the PLAN does not mean that it is ready for combat just yet. Was there any announcement/indication whatsoever that the 052C is ready for combat?

 

[wp2000]

Unfortunetely, China never announced anything combat ready, not just naval ships. I guess only a real combat can prove whether something is combat ready or not. Precisely speaking, 052C ships only officially showed up once on TV, it's a news about "some" naval unit's logistic reached a high level and what you see is several shots of sailors reloading missiles, food and , possiblely transferring casualties from the ship.

That's the only news clip about 052C class.

Actually, if it's not the sino-russian joint exercise in 2005, we would only have one news clip about 052B as well. Guess what, that news clip was about deep sea rescue. And for whatever buda knows reason, DDG168 was suddenly showed up at the end of the news. And that's it.

So if you want to wait for any official news from china about military equipment, forget it. I really wish they do some propaganda.

 

[LancerMc]

Don't forget China also introduced an type of conventional submarines called the Yaun class diseal electric sub in 2005. The PLAN is thought to have only 2 of these new subs in service.

 

[contedicavour]

The hardest thing is to guess the operational status of Chinese weapons systems developed locally... while for the Sovremennys there are hardly any doubts about their operational status, since the ships are improved versions of a class the Russians have been using extensively for 20 years now.

cheers

 

[aaaditya]

i remember reading an article that the sovremenny's are top heavy,can some one explain how this would affect the combat capabilities of these warships in both good and bad weather conditions.

 

[wp2000]

054A's first ship FFG530 was launched this morning.

 

[gf0012-aust]

i remember reading an article that the sovremenny's are top heavy,can some one explain how this would affect the combat capabilities of these warships in both good and bad weather conditions.

well, as an example, in a rolling high enough sea state - missile launches are harder on a PLS or traditional launcher than with a VLS.

 

[tphuang]

well, even the 4th sov has already finished its sea tests, so it will probably be commissionned as soon as it gets to China. Even 115 is commissionned I think, but it just stays next to the dock 24/7. Makes me wonder what kind of sea/weapon testing it has done.

 

[Transient]

well, even the 4th sov has already finished its sea tests, so it will probably be commissionned as soon as it gets to China. Even 115 is commissionned I think, but it just stays next to the dock 24/7. Makes me wonder what kind of sea/weapon testing it has done.

Operational, but staying next to the dock 24/7? What I mean by operational is like when the F-22 squadron was declared IOC - meaning it's crew are trained and ready, weapons and spares are stocked etc. Granted, weapons and spares are not likely to be announced by the Chinese press, but I think that with the 115 staying in port 24/7 it would be stretching it quite a bit to say that it is operational.

 

[wp2000]

Operational, but staying next to the dock 24/7? What I mean by operational is like when the F-22 squadron was declared IOC - meaning it's crew are trained and ready, weapons and spares are stocked etc. Granted, weapons and spares are not likely to be announced by the Chinese press, but I think that with the 115 staying in port 24/7 it would be stretching it quite a bit to say that it is operational.

I doubt 115 is commissioned. I bet it's only handed over to PLAN personnel. For example, 052C's 170 was in PLAN's hand for a year before it headed to its naval base and then declared commissioned indirectly. Until the PLAN personnel says OK about the ship, 115 will still hang around the ship yard doing test trials. And not untill the PLAN personnels pass all their tests, they are not qualified to control the ship alone. That's my understanding.

 

[tphuang]

Operational, but staying next to the dock 24/7? What I mean by operational is like when the F-22 squadron was declared IOC - meaning it's crew are trained and ready, weapons and spares are stocked etc. Granted, weapons and spares are not likely to be announced by the Chinese press, but I think that with the 115 staying in port 24/7 it would be stretching it quite a bit to say that it is operational.

well, there seemed to have been some kind of ceremony on 115 a while back and it was thought that 115 was commissioned at that time. And, it has been launched since 2004, so it is not inconceivable that it got commissioned at that time. However, all of the recent pictures we've seen have 115 and 116 together right next to the Varyag. It really makes me wonder whether it actually got commissioned or not.

 

[bd popeye]

well, there seemed to have been some kind of ceremony on 115 a while back and it was thought that 115 was commissioned at that time. And, it has been launched since 2004, so it is not inconceivable that it got commissioned at that time. However, all of the recent pictures we've seen have 115 and 116 together right next to the Varyag. It really makes me wonder whether it actually got commissioned or not.

tphuang if you don't know if the 115 & 116 have had weapons system test yet..well none of us members certianly don't know. unfortunaly much of what goes on with the PLAN seems to be a secrect of some sort. That's to be expected.

Those ships are nice toys to have..but they must get proper operational(at sea) training to be profiecent.

 

[tphuang]

tphuang if you don't know if the 115 & 116 have had weapons system test yet..well none of us members certianly don't know. unfortunaly much of what goes on with the PLAN seems to be a secrect of some sort. That's to be expected.

Those ships are nice toys to have..but they must get proper operational(at sea) training to be profiecent.

thanks Gerry.

I found all the photos from the Dalian shipyard to be pretty disappointing. Every single photo are taken from the exact same positions while the ships are docked in the exact same position. So, basically all the new photos of 051C look the same and you get a background of Varyag, but you can't really see what's going on with the ship other than it has been painted over.

At least with 052B/C, you see photos of them out in the sea all the time. I've seen more water around the 054A that just got launched than 115 which got launched over a year and half ago.