The Type 052D destroyer (

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

/ OSD reporting name: Luyang III-class destroyer) is a

class Class, Classes, 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 d ...

guided-missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers which have a pr ...

s in the Chinese

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 ...

(PLAN), and currently one of the most numerous principal surface combatant classes in service of the PLAN Surface Force. The Type 052D is a larger variant of the Type 052C, and has flat-paneled

active electronically scanned array An active electronically scanned array (AESA) is a type of phased array antenna, which is a computer-controlled antenna array in which the beam of radio waves can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving the a ...

(AESA)

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

,McDevitt: page 62 The Type 052D uses a canister-type (instead of 052C's revolver-type)

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 mo ...

(VLS),Li: page 44 which is not limited to

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 or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

s, making it China's first dedicated multi-role destroyer.

Etymology

The Type 052Ds are fitted with the four-panel Type 346A (NATO reporting name: Dragon Eye)

(AESA) radar system. Chinese media informally calls the Type 052D the Chinese Aegis ( zh, s=中华神盾, hp=Zhōnghuá Shéndùn), portraying it as a peer of contemporary

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

ships equipped with the Aegis Combat System.Holmes: page 4 The appearance of the Type 052D, with flat-panelled radar and canister-based vertical launch system, has encouraged this informal use.

Design

Sensors

The Type 052D is equipped with Type 346A AESA and Type 518

L-band The L band is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) designation for the range of Frequency, frequencies in the radio spectrum from 1 to 2 gigahertz (GHz). This is at the top end of the ultra high frequency (UHF) band, at t ...

radar. The Type 052D is also equipped with both variable depth (VDS) and linear towed array

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

. The VDS is deployed through a hinged opening in the transom by a hydraulic lifting mechanism. The VDS body is a streamlined fairing fitted with Y-shaped hydrodynamic vanes for towing stability.

Armament

The Type 052D 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. 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, CJ-10 land-attack cruise missiles, and CY-5 anti-submarine missiles. The Type 052D has a main gun, and a 7-barrelled Type 730 close-in weapon system (CIWS).

Data links

The Type 052D may be using the joint service integrated datalink system (JSIDLS) and naval common tactical data link (NCTDL). JSIDLS is equivalent to Link 16 and was certified in June 2012. NCTDL is a next-generation two-way encrypted data link with support for electro-optic and laser pod UAVs; it replaces the older HN-900.

Propulsion

The powerplant is a combined diesel or gas (CODOG) system with two QC-280

gas turbine A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of Internal combustion engine#Continuous combustion, continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas gene ...

s and two

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s. The machinery drives two shafts for a maximum speed of .

Aviation

The Type 052D is equipped with a hanger and landing pad and normally carries a Harbin Z-9 helicopter. A stretched variant, unofficially referred to as Type 052DL, has a flight deck extended by . The extended flight deck is likely intended for the Harbin Z-20 helicopter. The variant was under construction by 2016, with the first unit (''Zibo'') launched in 2018 and commissioned in 2020. Construction of further units to this design are continuing at the rate of three or four vessels per year.''Jane's Fighting Ships'', 2023-24 Edition, ISBN 978-0-7106-3428 3, page 140.

Ships of class

The first three batches of the 052D Class totalled 30 ships. The fourth batch of 10 ships is currently under construction.

Gallery

File:CNS Kunming (DDG-172) docks at a harbor on Changxing Island 2.jpg, ''Kunming'' (172) at Changxing Island File:PLANS Xiamen (DDG-154) 20180420.jpg, ''Xiamen'' (154) on 20 April 2018 File:20170803 03 Laivastovierailu Kiina.png, ''Hefei'' (174) during a visit to Helsinki in 2017 File:Type-52D_destroyer_Zhanjiang_(165)_in_Langkawi.jpg, ''Zhanjiang'' (165) during a visit to Langkawi, Malaysia in 2023

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Type 052 destroyer Destroyer classes Destroyers of the People's Liberation Army Navy