Sensor and Electronic Warfare Suites Aboard China's Type 055 Destroyer

[Drumboy44]

While official Chinese media have been quite reactive and open with the launched of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or Chinese Navy) first Type 055 Destroyer (they did publish official images of the ceremony just two hours after it took place), details on the specifications of the ship, especially its sensor suite, are still scarce. But with plenty of imagery of Type 055 sensors now available, Navy Recognition contacted two retired French Navy officers (a former frigate commander and a former electronic warfare specialist) in order to try and learn more about the PLAN's latest surface combatant's sensors.

http://www.navyrecognition.com/inde...suites-aboard-china-s-type-055-destroyer.html

 

[krzepice1976]

The MND release listed the ship’s displacement at 10,000 tons but did not provide further details, although satellite imagery of the ship being built suggests that it will be between 175 and 180 meters long with a beam of approximately 20 meters.

Photos of the ceremony released by the MND and Chinese state media also suggest the Type 055 will be fitted with a bow-mounted sonar and a 64-cell vertical launch system, or VLS, for surface to air, anti-ship and cruise missiles in the forward section of the ship behind the 130mm dual-purpose gun. This ship will also include a set of VLS aft that will likely bring the total number of VLS cells carried by the ship to between 112 and 128 cells.

The Type 055 also features multifunction phased array radar similar to that on China’s Type 052D destroyers and the U.S. Navy’s AEGIS system. More sensors are carried within an integrated mast on the superstructure, while it is believed that there will be hangar facilities on board to carry two helicopters.

Although classified by the PLAN as a destroyer, a recent Pentagon report on Chinese military developments called the Type 055 a cruiser, assigning the code name Renhai-class to the type.
http://www.defensenews.com/articles/china-launches-first-type-055-class-guided-missile-destroyer