China is building a new class of Type 054B frigate

After the very prolific Type 054A class, the Chinese Navy will soon receive its first Type 054B anti-submarine warfare frigate, to strengthen its escort capabilities on the high seas.

For the past ten years, Chinese naval production has been the subject of all the attention, in particular on the part of Western navies. It is true that Chinese shipyards in Dalian, Jiangnan and Hudong now produce every year more destroyers, frigates, corvettes and amphibious ships than the United States and all of its allies in the Pacific theater combined.

In addition, the new classes of surface combatants that have appeared in recent years, such as Type 055 heavy destroyers, Type 052DL anti-aircraft destroyers, Type 071 assault ships or even Type 075 assault helicopter carriers, have little to envy of the best American, Japanese, South Korean or Australian ships in service.

One of the most important advances of the Chinese Navy was the admission into service of around thirty Type 054A anti-submarine frigates in just over 10 years between 2008 and 2019.

134 meters long for a 16 meter beam, Jiangkai II class frigates according to NATO classification, are in fact ships specialized in coastal and offshore anti-submarine warfare, and have 3 different sonars for this: a very effective hull sonar at shallow depths, an H/SJG-206 towed passive listening sonar low frequency, and an H/SJD-311 variable depth towed sonar capable of passing under the thermocline, this underwater layer characterized by a rapid change in temperature and salinity, which blocks sound emissions in one direction as in the other.

The ship also has a Z-9 helicopter derived from the French Dauphin to carry out target spotting and anti-submarine warfare missions, as well as a range of missiles made up of 8 YJ supersonic anti-cruise ship missiles. -83, as well as 32 cells receiving HQ-16 anti-aircraft missiles derived from the Russian Buk system, and Yu-8 anti-submarine missiles inspired by the American ASROC.

Like the Type 052D destroyer in the anti-aircraft field, the Type 054A frigate gives the Chinese Navy high seas combat capabilities that it lacked until recently.

Hudong shipyards have been undertaking, for a little over a year, the construction of a second batch of Type 054A frigates for the Chinese Navy, around ten units being at different stages of completion.

However, for several weeks, specialists who have carefully examined the satellite images of this shipyard, had observed the appearance of new sections under construction corresponding neither to the Type 054A frigate nor to the Type 052D destroyer, which suggested that a new class of surface combatant was being designed.

The doubt was removed last week, when a satellite image from January 21 revealed the construction of a new ship 147 meters long and 18 meters wide in one of Hudong's holds, thus revealing the construction of a new class of frigate in this shipyard.

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