053H3 missile frigate

NATO codename: Jiangwei-class Type II

Length: 115 meters,

Width: 14 meters,

Draft: 4.8 m.

Standard displacement: 2250 tons

Speed: 27 knots

Endurance: 4000 nm / 18 knots

Personnel: 170

Impetus:

The main engine is 2 sets of 12E390 diesel engines, with a continuous power of 14400 horsepower and two shafts.

Armament:

Artillery: One twin 100 mm gun

Anti-ship missiles: 2 quadruple YJ83 missile launchers;

Anti-aircraft missile: 1 8-pack Hongqi-7 anti-aircraft missile launcher

Anti-submarine rocket: 2 RBU12005-tube fixed launchers

2 SRBOCMK366 tube chaff jamming transmitters

2 domestically produced 26-tube chaff launchers.

Electronic support: RWD8;

Electronic interference: NJ81-3;

Radar:

Air/Sea Search: "Knife Holder", G-band.

Fire control: "visor", I-band;

"Fog lamp", I/J band (for anti-aircraft missiles);

"Valley Lights", I/J band. Navigation:

"Rekataika" 1290;I-band.

Sonar: "Echo 5", hull sonar, active search/attack, medium frequency.

Helicopter: one "Harbin" Z-9A ("Dolphin").

Construction plan

Serial number, ship name, construction shipyard, service time, fleet to which it belongs

1521 Jiaxing ship Hudong-Zhonghua 1998.11 East China Sea Fleet

2522 Lianyungang Ship Hudong-Zhonghua 1999.02 East China Sea Fleet

3523 Putian Ship Hudong-Zhonghua 1999.10 East China Sea Fleet

4524 Sanming Ship Hudong-Zhonghua 1999.12 East China Sea Fleet

5527 Luoyang ship Hudong-Zhonghua 2005 North Sea Fleet

6528 Mianyang ship Guangzhou Huangpu 2005 North Sea Fleet

7564 Yichang ship Guangzhou Huangpu 1998.12 North Sea Fleet

8565 Huludao ship Guangzhou Huangpu 2000.07 North Sea Fleet

9566 Huaihua Ship Hudong-Zhonghua 2002.03 South China Sea Fleet

10567 Xiangfan Ship Guangzhou Huangpu 2002.05 South China Sea Fleet

The 053H3 missile frigate is a new ship launched by China in the early 1990s, and its technical level has grown by leaps and bounds compared with the previous 053 frigate.

The hull line of the 053H3 missile frigate-class missile frigate is different from that of the old Soviet ships, and is relatively close to the Italian "Northwest-class" class frigates. In appearance, the "Jiangwei" class has a relatively plump waterline surface and a wide square stern. Above the waterline, the whole ship has an outward drift, and the bow of the ship has a distinct folded angle, an obvious arc, and a large outward drift. This line type has good seaworthiness and low resistance at high speeds. A small wedge in the stern reduces wave resistance.

It is worth noting that the 053H3 missile frigate has a length-to-width ratio of 8:1, which is much lower than that of foreign active frigates (generally 9~10, and the Canadian "Halifax" class is 8:1), close to the latest "Arleigh Burke" class destroyer of the US Navy. The design of the reduced aspect ratio has become a new trend, and its main advantage is to improve the anti-pitch and stern buoyancy, and the resulting anti-pitch stability torque can balance the pitch moment exerted by the weight of the large bulbous bow sonar, so that the bow will not be buried too deep when the wind and waves are strong, so that the seaworthiness can be improved and the ship's volume can be increased to arrange more weapons. The use of circular arc transition on the side (this is the first time for a Chinese ship) not only solves the problem of water accumulation on the deck, but also reduces the radar reflection cross-section, and further improves the stealth performance.

The 053H3 missile frigate adopts a fully enclosed design of the central bridge building, which not only enables the ship to have three defense capabilities, but also is especially suitable for fighting in the hot South China Sea. The hull is welded steel, and the bridge, hangar, and chimney are made of lightweight aluminum alloy structure. The ship has two full length decks, the bridge is the same height as the two decks, and the main mast is a hybrid structure of tower mast and truss mast. Compared with the ships designed in the past, the superstructure of the 053H3 missile frigate is smaller, the corners of the walls are all rounded, and the side walls are tilted inward at a certain angle, indicating that the designers have given some consideration to reducing the radar reflection cross-section, but there seems to be no measure to reduce the infrared radiation of the chimney and smoke exhaust. It can be confirmed from the chimney that the "Jiangwei" class uses 2 tabletop 4 diesel engines to form a CODAD all-diesel power unit, with a total power of 14,400 horsepower. The "Jiangwei" class has a maximum speed of 25 knots. And it has a range of 5,000 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 16 knots, which is clearly of great tactical importance for the Chinese Navy, especially in the South China Sea.

In short, the design of the 053H3 missile frigate fully reflects the importance that the Chinese Navy attaches to the seaworthiness of combat ships. This is indispensable for the construction of an effective "blue water" navy.

Equipment weapons

The 053H3 missile frigate is a first-class multipurpose frigate, and the configuration of weapons takes more into account the ship's defense capabilities in modern naval warfare conditions. The bow gun is a twin 100mm gun, which is the standard main gun for frigates of the Chinese Navy. Controlled by the "Wasphead" gun-sighting radar in front of the mainmast on the roof of the bridge, this radar differs from the "Jianghu" class configuration in that the 3.5-meter optical rangefinder behind the spherical stabilizer has been eliminated, but the operator's access hatch is still retained, indicating that the operation of this radar has not been moved to the hull. There may be an electro-optical fire controller base on the roof of the bridge, presumably including a laser rangefinder, television tracking, and low-light night vision devices for target designation for air defense systems in the event of severe electronic interference.

Ship-to-air missiles

Haihongqi-7 anti-aircraft missile, English code HHQ-7. The current standard point anti-aircraft missile of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). It is widely equipped on the non-full-time air defense surface ships of the People's Navy and is used for the point air defense of the ships themselves.

In the mid-80s, China imported the "Sea Sidewinder" ship-to-air missile system from France, which had just been put into service, and in 1988 China successfully copied the system and named it HHQ-7. The technology of the Chinese version of the "Sea Rattlesnake" - HHQ-7 is no less than that of the original French product, and its reputation is just as far-reaching. At present, some of China's main combat ships, including the "Luhai" class destroyers, are equipped with eight ship-to-air missile systems, which are the HHQ-7 air defense missile system.

The Haihongqi-7 air defense missile adopts radio command guidance, with a maximum range of 13km, a minimum range of 700m, a maximum combat altitude of 6000m, and a minimum combat altitude of 5m, with the ability to fly anti-ship missiles against the sea, with a maximum overload of 35g, a reaction time of 6.5s, and a single-shot damage probability of 80%.

In fact, the Haihongqi-7 does not have the regional air defense capabilities of the fleet, cannot provide fleet-level air defense, and is only a point air defense device. It is also a helpless move for the People's Navy to equip many types of ships with Haihongqi-7. This embarrassing situation improved after the introduction of the SA-N-90 with the introduction of the SA-N-7 with the "modern class" at the end of the 7s. The situation was radically improved after the entry into service of the domestic Haihongqi-9 (HHQ-9) and Haihongqi-16 (HHQ-16).

And after the 053H3 missile frigate, the Haihongqi-7 was also replaced by the Haihongqi-10 with a higher technical level.

Secondary artillery

Four new twin 37-mm guns, mounted on both sides of the bridge and hangar, first appeared on the destroyers "Zhanjiang" (165) and "Zhuhai" (166) of the "Luda" class III, but the fire control radar was different. At first, it was generally believed that this gun was a Chinese copy of the Italian "Breda" 40-mm rapid-fire gun, but a closer photo shows that the new gun on the 053H3 missile frigate uses a water-cooled barrel, and the appearance of the cooling soft water pipe wound around the barrel can be seen, while the "Breda" 40-mm gun does not have such a structure. In addition, the turret shape is not exactly the same. Therefore, it is certain that this artillery is a new product developed by China itself, and considering the good relations between China and the "Breda" company, it is normal to receive some technical assistance from the latter in the process of development. All four guns were controlled by the 341 "Repranpu" fire control radar located on the roof of the hangar.

Anti-ship missiles

Two triple fixed missile launch boxes were set up in front and behind the main chimney, which were arranged perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the deck and the flame exhaust ports facing the broadside. The missile is the YJ-83 anti-ship missile, and the "Square Knot" radar, which provides target data, is located on the mainmast 02 platform. Other detection equipment includes a new model of sea/air search radar at the top of the mainmast, a Neptune navigation radar and an air warning radar behind the chimney.

Electronic warfare systems

Compared with the "Jianghu" III class, the electronic warfare system of the 053H3 missile frigate has not changed much, and it is not equipped with the medium/long-range rocket-type chaff jamming launch system that is found on the "Luda" III class destroyer. The specifics of the combat system inside the ship and the accusation system remain unclear.

Carrier-based helicopters

The aft helicopter take-off and landing deck and hangar are designed for a medium anti-submarine helicopter configuration, with a deck length of 22 meters and a width of 14 meters.

Judging from the use of ship-based helicopters in the Chinese Navy in recent years, the domestically produced Z-9 has only solved the problem of getting on ships, and it will take a long time to truly realize the tasks of using this aircraft for anti-ship, anti-submarine and over-the-horizon attack guidance. In a recently published photo, the Z-9, carried by the Jianghu VI-class tower, does not carry any anti-submarine equipment and weapons, and does not even have official naval markings. It appears that China still lacks the ability to develop and produce small airborne anti-submarine equipment (such as hoisting sonars, signal processors, search radars) and integrate them into aircraft. It has been reported that several European manufacturers of airborne equipment are participating in a tender for the modification and integration of an airborne electronic system for the Z-9. If all goes well, the Jiangwei-class and even the newest brigade-class missile destroyers will be equipped with this Z-9, which has been improved by Western technology.

In addition to helicopters, the anti-submarine armament is mainly two rocket depth launchers in the bow, and no light anti-submarine torpedoes are equipped, but there is enough space in the stern to accommodate two triple torpedo launchers and deeper sonar retraction equipment.

Overall parity

The 053 series frigates are the first type of warships with the largest number of models and the largest number of constructions in the Chinese Navy, with a total of seven models and 49 ships, which should be divided into three types of warships of different classes according to NATO: Jianghu class, Jiangdong class, and Jiangwei class.

Jianghu level

053H16 ships including 2 ships exported to Egypt

053H110 ships

053H27 ships including 2 ships exported to Thailand

053H1G6 ships

Koto class

053HK2 ships

Jiang Wei level

053H2G4 ships

053H310 ships

As the last type of 053 series frigates, the 053H3 frigate is also the one with the highest technical level, which has witnessed the development of the Chinese Navy from weak to strong, from backward to catching up. At the turn of the century, it supported China's coastal defense.

However, from the current point of view, the technical level of the 053H3 missile frigate is not advanced, the tonnage of 2250, only the general corvette is slightly larger, but compared with the main frigates of other countries, it is insufficient; only equipped with some air defense capabilities, it can only be regarded as better than nothing, and for coastal cruising and patrol tasks, it is not as good as the 056 frigate with a smaller tonnage, but a higher level of informatization, so it seems a little embarrassing, and with the 056 frigate, 054A frigate, 052C destroyer, A series of warships such as 052D destroyers have reached the world's advanced level have been completed and put into service, although the 053H3 frigate can still play a residual heat after modernization, but the end of the 053 era of the Chinese Navy is inevitable, but the 053 series frigates will become a microcosm of the Chinese Navy's struggle to catch up with the world's advanced level, and remain in the development process of the Chinese Navy.

Pay attention to the official QQ public account "17K Novel Network" (ID: love17k), read the latest chapters first, and grasp the latest information at any time