''Huainan'' (123) is a Type 052DL destroyer of the

People's Liberation Army Navy The People's Liberation Army Navy, also known as the People's Navy, PLA Navy or simply Chinese Navy, is the naval warfare military branch, branch of the People's Liberation Army, the national military of the People's Republic of China. It i ...

Development and design

The basic ship type and layout of the ''Type 052D'' guided-missile destroyer is the same as that of the Type 052C destroyer, but compared to the earlier Type 052C destroyer, the Type 052D superstructure has a larger inclination angle and provides better stealth performance. At the same time, the 052C helicopter hangar is located The left side of the hull axis was changed to the center axis of the ship on Type 052D; a pair of small boat storage compartments were added on both sides of the hangar, similar to the design on the

Type 054A frigate The Type 054A (NATO/ OSD Jiangkai II) is a Ship class, class of guided-missile frigate from the People's Republic of China. It is a development of the Type 054 frigate; compared to its predecessor, the Type 054A has medium-range air defense capa ...

. The close in weapon system is composed of a H/PJ-12 short-range defense weapon system located in front of the bridge and a 24 Hongqi-10 air defense missile system located on the top of the hangar, which is combined to form a ladder interception. The original 100mm naval gun was replaced by a higher height and better stealth model H/PJ45 naval gun. On May 13, 2019, the extended version of the 052DL was exposed. The hull of the 052DL is basically the same as the 052D, but the helicopter deck is lengthened to prepare for the Zhi-20 to board the ship. The Type 52D is the first Chinese surface combatant to use canister-based universal VLS, as opposed to the concentric type VLS carried aboard earlier vessels. 64 cells are carried; 32 forward and 32 aft.Li: page 44 The VLS is reportedly an implementation of the GJB 5860-2006 standard. The VLS may fire the extended-range variant of the HHQ-9 surface-to-air missile, YJ-18 anti-ship cruise missiles, and CY-5 anti-submarine missiles.

Construction and career

''Huainan'' was launched on 15 April 2019 at the

Jiangnan Shipyard Jiangnan Shipyard ( zh, c=江南造船厂, p=Jiāngnán Zàochuán Chǎng) is a historic shipyard in Shanghai, China. The shipyard has been state-owned since its founding in 1865 and is now operated as Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co. Ltd. Befo ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. She was commissioned in 2021. On 2 March 2021, ''Huainan'', ''Tangshan'', ''Qiqihar'' and ''Zhangjiakou'' conducted a training exercise in the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea, also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. Names It is one of four ...

. In February 2023, the destroyer was deployed to the south

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

to engage in joint exercises with the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n and Russian navies that were to be held in waters off South Africa. The exercise began on 18 February and involved the frigate '' Admiral Gorshkov'' and tanker ''Kama'' from the Russian Navy along with the People's Liberation Army Navy frigate '' Rizhao'' and the support ship '' Kekexilihu''. Several vessels from the South African Navy were expected to participate including the frigate '' Mendi'' as well as the Warrior-class patrol vessel ''King Sekhukhune I'' and the hydrographic survey vessel SAS ''Protea''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huainan 2019 ships Ships built in China Type 052D destroyers