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China’s military
ChinaMilitary

China appears to be readying 2 advanced warships for launch, adding muscle to aircraft carrier group

  • Photos circulating on social media show Type 054B frigates at shipyards in Shanghai and Guangzhou
  • Naval expert says vessels resemble smaller version of the Type 055, the world’s No 2 most powerful destroyer

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China is expected to launch its Type 054B frigate, shown here on the left next to its predecessor, by the end of the year. Photo: Weibo
Minnie Chan
China is expected to launch two multi-role frigates, adding muscle to its new generation of aircraft carrier strike groups, according to photos circulated by military enthusiasts online.
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Several photos shared by a mainland-based Weibo user who tracks news about the Chinese navy showed the hull of a Type 054B frigate – a bigger and faster version of the Type 054A now in service – as it was prepared to be rolled out from the dry dock of a shipyard. Over half of the hull was visible, suggesting the ship would soon be launched into a nearby pool.

Banners hanging on the sides of the dry dock indicated the photos were taken at the Huangpu-Wenchong Shipyard, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) in Guangzhou, and one of the Chinese navy’s key contractors.

“The shape of the bulkhead board and the island control tower suggest that the vessel is a mini version of the Type 055 destroyer,” said Lu Li-shih, a former instructor at Taiwan’s Naval Academy in Kaohsiung, referring to the Renhai-class stealth-guided missile destroyer with a displacement of more than 12,000 tonnes.

“It’s an entirely new frigate – not just faster and bigger than the Type 054A, but it has also adopted some new advanced technologies from the Type 055 cruiser.”

The Type 055 is the world’s second-most powerful destroyer after the US Navy’s DDG-1000, or Zumwalt class. Armed with an integrated mast and powerful radar systems, it has been dubbed the “bodyguard” of Chinese aircraft carriers.

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China plans to launch two Type 054B frigates by the end of this year. Aside from the one under construction in Guangzhou, another is being built at Hudong–Zhonghua Shipbuilding in Shanghai, another CSSC subsidiary.

With an estimated displacement of about 6,000 tonnes, the hull of the Type 054B is about 147 metres (482 feet) long and 18 metres wide, according to information posted by former US submariner Tom Shugart on his Twitter account. Shugart’s estimate, which is based on satellite images of the Shanghai shipyard, puts the new vessel at more than 10 metres longer than the Type 051A.

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