The Type 054A (NATO/ OSD Jiangkai II) is a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

of guided-missile

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed an ...

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, slig ...

. It is a development of the

Type 054 frigate The Type 054 (NATO Codename Jiangkai I) is a class of Chinese multi-role frigates that were commissioned in the People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force in 2005. They superseded the Type 053H3 frigates. Only two ships, ''Ma'anshan'' (525), and ...

; 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 The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN; ), also known as the People's Navy, Chinese Navy, or PLA Navy, is the maritime service branch of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAN traces its lineage to naval units fighting during the Chines ...

(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 24Willett (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 France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, 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 The HQ-7 is a short-range 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 ot ...

short-range SAM''Jane's Fighting Ships'' (2015): page 142 is replaced with a 32-cell

vertical launching system A vertical launching system (VLS) is an advanced system for holding and firing missiles on mobile naval platforms, such as surface ships and submarines. Each vertical launch system consists of a number of ''cells'', which can hold one or mor ...

for medium-range HHQ-16 SAMs and Yu-8 antisubmarine rockets. The smaller main gun and

Type 730 The Type 730 is a Chinese seven-barrelled 30 mm Gatling gun/Rotary cannon CIWS. It has a PLA Navy designation H/PJ12. It is mounted in an enclosed automatic turret and directed by radar, and electro-optical tracking systems. The maximum rat ...

close-in weapon system A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of l ...

(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 197Kirchberger (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 typ ...

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 ...

- 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 from ...

in 2017.

Exports

In January 2013, it was confirmed that China offered three Type 054As to the

Royal Thai Navy The Royal Thai Navy ( Abrv: RTN, ทร.; th, กองทัพเรือไทย, ) is the naval warfare force of Thailand. Established in 1906, it was modernised by the Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartiwongse (1880–1923) who is known a ...

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 Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd ( ko, 대우조선해양; abbreviated DSME) is one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea, along with Hyundai and Samsung. History On 21 February 2011, the A. P. Moller-Maersk Group (M ...

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 The Harbin Z-9 (NATO reporting name "Haitun", for Dolphin) is a Chinese military utility helicopter with civilian variants. It is a licensed variant of the French Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin, and is manufactured by Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing ...

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)

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * * *

External links

Chinese Defense Today page

{{Ship classes of the Chinese Navy Stealth ships