The Type 054 (NATO Codename Jiangkai I) is a class of
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
multi-role
frigates that were commissioned in the
People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force in 2005. They superseded the
Type 053H3 frigate
The Type 053H3 (NATO reporting name: Jiangwei II) is a class of Chinese frigates that entered service with the People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force in the 1990s and 2000s. The class comprised 10 vessels, all of which remain in active servic ...
s. Only two ships, ''Ma'anshan'' (525), and ''Wenzhou'' (526), were completed before production switched to the
VLS equipped improved
Type 054A frigate
The Type 054A (NATO/ OSD Jiangkai II) is a 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 capability in th ...
.
Design
The Type 054 has a stealthy hull design with sloped surfaces, radar absorbent materials, and a reduced superstructure clutter.
The main anti-ship armament were
YJ-83 sea-skimming
anti-ship cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhe ...
s in two four-cell launchers. It retained the
HQ-7 SAM
Sam, SAM or variants may refer to:
Places
* Sam, Benin
* Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Iran
* Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place
People and fictional ...
, an improved version of the French
Crotale, from the preceding Type 053H3; the HQ-7 had a ready-to-fire 8-cell launcher, with 16 stored in the automatic reloader. Short range defence was improved with four
AK-630 CIWS turrets. A 100 mm main gun, also based on a
French design
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...
, was mounted.
Both ships were powered by four
CODAD Type 16 PA6 STC marine diesel engines designed by
SEMT Pielstick, each generating 6,330 hp. Licenses for the engines were sold to China in April 2002, where they were built by the
Shaanxi Diesel Engine Factory
Shaanxi Diesel Engine Heavy Industry, Co. Ltd. () of Shaanxi, China is a major producer of diesel-powered electrical generators, high-speed prime movers for large-scale marine applications, and is one of China's key state enterprises for the prod ...
. Other reports claimed each ship was powered by two (or four) Type 16 PA STC and two MTU 20V 956TB92 diesels.
Comparison with ''La Fayette'' class
The Type 054 resembled the French s in shape and displacement. In addition, the Chinese used French, or French-derived, electronics and weapons. The French exported these systems to China in the 1980s, and later granted production licences. These systems were similar to those used on the ''La Fayette''s in the 1980s.
The succeeding
Type 054A frigate
The Type 054A (NATO/ OSD Jiangkai II) is a 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 capability in th ...
s incorporated a larger proportion of more-advanced indigenous systems.
Operations
''Ma'anshan'' and ''Wenzhou'' deployed from
Zhoushan
Zhoushan , formerly romanized as Chusan, is an urbanized archipelago with the administrative status of a prefecture-level city in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. It consists of an archipelago of islands at the southern mouth of H ...
on 21 February 2011 to undertake an
anti-piracy patrol off
Somalia. They were the eighth such Chinese patrol
and, following ''Wenzhou's'' pennant number, gained the semi-compatible
Task Force designation 'Task Force 526'.
Commodore Han Xiaohu commanded the flotilla from ''Wenzhou''. En route the flotilla made a stop at
Karachi, before setting sail again on 13 March 2011.
The ships were joined by replenishment ship ''
Qiandaohu
Qiandao Lake (), a human-made, freshwater lake located in Chun'an County, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, was formed after the completion of the Xin'an River hydroelectric station in 1959.
Geography
1,078 large islands dot the lake and a f ...
'' (886), which was already deployed with the preceding flotilla.
Ships of class
See also
*
List of naval ship classes in service
References
External links
Chinese Defense Today page
{{Ship classes of the Chinese Navy