The Type 054A (NATO/
OSD OSD may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Ocean Science Discussions, the discussion and review section of the journal ''Ocean Science''
* Optimal shape design, a part of the field of optimal control theory
* Oral sedation dentistry, the oral admi ...
Jiangkai II) is a
class of guided-missile
frigate from the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, sli ...
. It is a development of the
Type 054 frigate;
compared to its predecessor, the Type 054A has medium-range air defense capability in the form of
Type 382 radar and
vertically launched (VLS)
HHQ-16 surface-to-air missile
A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...
s.
[Schwartz (2015): page 28]
The Type 054A entered service with the
People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in January 2008,
[''Jane's Fighting Ships'' (2015): page 144] and was a key component of the PLAN's surface fleet by the late 2010s.
[Willett (2019): page 24][Willett (2019): page 26] Production was ongoing in 2021.
Design
The Type 054 was heavily influenced by the from
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
, and so reflected the strategic and operational requirements of that country. The development of the Type 054A may have been driven by China's need to address high-intensity armed conflict.
[Collins et al. (2014): page 2]
The Type 054A uses the same stealthy hull form as the Type 054.
The forward launcher for
HQ-7 short-range SAM
[''Jane's Fighting Ships'' (2015): page 142] is replaced with a 32-cell
vertical launching system for medium-range HHQ-16 SAMs and Yu-8 antisubmarine rockets.
The smaller main gun and
Type 730 close-in weapon system (CIWS) are also installed.
The radar suite makes use of technology
reverse engineered from Russian systems; the affected Chinese systems may include the
H/LJQ-382 air search radar (from the Fregat MAE-3) and the
H/LJQ-366 fire control radar (from the Mineral ME).
[Kirchberger (2015): page 197][Kirchberger (2015): page 208] The HHQ-16 target illuminators may also be derived from the Russian MR-90.
[Kirchberger (2015): page 191]
Ships starting with the 17th unit were constructed with enhanced
anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are typi ...
capability - adding
variable depth and towed array sonar - and the Type 1130 CIWS instead of the Type 730.
These ships have been unofficially referred to as Type 054A+, Type 054A2, or modified Jiangkai II.
In 2015, Gabe Collins estimated that each ship cost .
Operational history
Type 054As have regularly deployed beyond China's regional waters.
Ships have participated in
anti-piracy naval patrols off of
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...
. The first was ''Huangshan'', which deployed as part of China's second rotation in April 2019. From there, the ships have been detached to respond to regional crises. Frigates evacuated Chinese citizens from
Libya in 2011 - making ''Xuzhou'' the first PLAN ship to enter the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
- and
Yemen in 2015. Another joined an international effort to
secure Syria's chemical weapons in 2014.
Frigates also participated in the first Chinese naval exercises with the
Russian Navy in the Mediterranean in 2015 and the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and fr ...
in 2017.
Exports
In January 2013, it was confirmed that China offered three Type 054As to the
Royal Thai Navy for US$1 billion. Ultimately, Thailand selected a derivative of the
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
n from
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
ordered four Type 054A variants from Hudong-Zhonghua in 2017-2018 as the Type 054A/P, or . The first entered service on 8 November 2021.
Ships of class
Gallery
File:Aft-deck of the PLAN frigate Yi Yang (FF 548).jpg, Aft-deck of frigate ''Yiyang'' (548). In this image, US Navy sailors are boarding to meet prior to conducting a bilateral counter-piracy exercise. Visible on the flight deck is a Harbin Z-9 helicopter
File:China Conducts Gunnery Exercise at RIMPAC 2016 160717-N-MV764-001.jpg, H/PJ-26 76mm main gun onboard ''Hengshui'' (572)
File:Wuhu (539) Frigate - YJ-83 Missile.jpg, The YJ-83 anti-ship missile launchers on the ''Wuhu'' (539)
File:Wuhu (539) Frigate - Type 87 ASR.jpg, The Type 87 Anti Submarine Rocket (ASROC) Launchers of the ''Wuhu'' (539)
File:China Conducts Gunnery Exercise at RIMPAC 2016 160717-N-MV764-002.jpg, Weapon control station of Chinese Navy Ship ''Hengshui'' (572)
File:HQ-16 VLS SAM Launchers.jpg, HQ-16 VLS SAM launchers on ''Xuzhou'' (530)
File:Singapore visit 150520-N-YU572-190.jpg, The meeting room facility onboard ''Yulin'' (569)
See also
*
List of naval ship classes in service
References
;Citations
;Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Chinese Defense Today page
{{Ship classes of the Chinese Navy
Stealth ships