【Military sub-plane】Author: Lele
On June 30, the Japanese Ministry of Defense announced that the Chinese Navy's 055 destroyer "102" Lhasa ship led a team to cross the Miyako Strait and return to the East China Sea on the 29th. It is expected to return to the northern station within two days and conclude its first long-sea voyage. Originally intended as a maiden voyage to test the overall performance of the Lhasa ship, it ended up taking nearly 20 days to circumnavigate the Japanese archipelago, which was very unexpected. More importantly, the Lhasa ship achieved unprecedented achievements during its first experimental trip. So what great achievements will it achieve when it returns to port to complete repairs and go to sea again?
▲The Lhasa ship’s island-circling operation announced by the Japanese Ministry of Defense
As the first 10,000-ton destroyer built by the Chinese Navy, domestic public opinion lacks sufficient understanding of this advanced warship, and often infers the development of the 055 from the 052D usage concept. In contrast, the more experienced U.S. Navy has long recognized the true significance of the 055 as a large warship with a displacement of more than 12,000 tons. The title of " cruiser " given to 055, although there is suspicion of flattery, is indeed closer to the actual performance of 055 after service. For example, after the Nanchang ship, the first ship of the Type 055, went to sea to test its performance in March 2021, in addition to forming an aircraft carrier escort formation with 052D and 054A as expected by the outside world. He also completed the feat of sailing north to Peter the Great Bay in Russia, and jointly circumnavigating the Japanese archipelago with Russian naval ships on the return voyage, and leading a team to the waters near Alaska in the United States.
▲The Nanchang ship taking a photo with the Russian Navy "Dreadnought" destroyer
Now the Lhasa ship is following in the footsteps of the Nanchang ship, first heading east to the Tsushima Strait to test its combat effectiveness, and taking advantage of the situation to complete the achievement of bypassing the Japanese archipelago. It shows that after the high-intensity ocean training of the Nanchang ship in 2021, the Navy has accumulated profound experience in using 055. As a warship serving in the North Sea Fleet with the Nanchang ship, the Lhasa ship became a blockbuster on its first voyage with the support of this experience. Although Some are beyond expectations, but still within the acceptable range. However, for our country's navy, it is indeed very rare for a warship that has just formed combat effectiveness to reach such a height, which indicates that the future of the Lhasa ship is destined to be extraordinary.
▲Nanchang ship riding the wind and waves in the Sea of Japan
First of all, after 10 years of service and 6 years of combat effectiveness, the Liaoning ship finally ushered in a complete escort and supply formation. Since the outside world confirmed that the construction of the Type 055 10,000-ton destroyer had actually begun in 2015, "aircraft carrier escort" has become the most recognized label for the Type 055. Judging from the actual situation of the Nanchang ship escorting the Liaoning ship for sea training three times after it entered service, the 055 is indeed the perfect core of the aircraft carrier formation. It can not only support the air defense and anti-submarine protection circle for the aircraft carrier with its complete shipboard weapons and equipment, but its abundant internal space is also the material basis for building a modern shipboard command center as the "deputy command" of the aircraft carrier formation. After the Lhasa ship enters service, in the past, the Nanchang ship alone took on the role of escorting the aircraft carrier formation. The two 055s will work together to complete the task. The coverage will be larger and the effect will be better. And this should become a reality by the end of this year. .
▲The cooperation between the two 055s will be a qualitative change
Secondly, among the five sea operations of the Nanchang ship in 2021, in addition to the first time to test the combat effectiveness, the second time was to escort the Liaoning ship, and the remaining two trips were to Russia and China respectively. U.S. After this round of Japan, the Lhasa ship is expected to end its rest and recuperation in early August and will sail again in September this year at the latest. At this time, the Liaoning ship should not go to sea according to the deployment cycle, which means that the Lhasa ship will most likely go to sea by then. It is to lead the team to sail. Whether it will go to Russia, the waters near the United States, or even the Central and South Pacific waters where the Nanchang ship has not yet set foot is something that people are looking forward to. In addition, the Nanchang ship, which was highly active last year, has only completed one operation to escort the Liaoning ship to sea so far this year. This obviously cannot meet the training needs and is inconsistent with the navy's active move into the distant seas. Therefore, it is very possible that the Nanchang ship and the Lhasa ship will join forces to go to sea in August and September, and enter the distant sea with the majestic appearance of dual 055s.
▲ Escorting the aircraft carrier is an important responsibility of the 055
Finally, about the modification of the Lhasa ship. As a warship built since 2014, the first batch of 055 has a large number of transitional elements. Among them, in the field of shipborne weapons, the most prominent one is that the "one pit and four bombs" technology is not applied. It was originally believed that the Navy would incorporate the 054A equipped with the Haihongqi-16 medium-range ship-to-air missile into the aircraft carrier escort formation to form a complete air defense system with the Haihongqi-9 carried by the 052D and 055. However, the unprecedented escort lineup of the Liaoning ship in May this year shows that the Navy does not actually intend to regard the 054A as an aircraft carrier escort warship in high-intensity operations. The escort mode of 055 plus 052D has stronger combat effectiveness and better performance, but it also needs to make up for the vacancy of medium-range ship-to-air missiles.
▲054A's value in the aircraft carrier formation may not be that great.
052D and 055 are both equipped with 850 mm large-caliber vertical launchers, applying the "one pit and four bombs" technology displayed at the air show to accommodate medium-range ship-to-air missiles , is the optimal solution under the current technological level. In addition, the YJ-21 carrier-based anti-ship ballistic missile, which was publicly unveiled in April this year, has a combat effectiveness that far exceeds that of the current 055 equipped with the YJ-18 anti-ship missile . The Lhasa ship and the Nanchang ship have a high profit after being equipped with the "four bombs in one pit" technology and the YJ-21, and the replacement of the ship-based missile requires a relatively small scope of modification, which is a typical high-cost ratio. upgrade. Therefore, in the near future, the first batch of eight 055s built will inevitably be gradually upgraded and transformed to undertake their own tasks with a more perfect attitude.
▲Eagle Strike-21 is of great significance to 055
As an advanced large warship representing the highest level of China's shipbuilding industry, 055 has attracted much attention from the outside world since its appearance. Now the Lhasa ship has formed a combat effectiveness after the Nanchang ship, and Of the remaining six Type 055s, four have already entered service and are expected to follow the footsteps of the Nanchang and Lhasa ships in the past two years. It means that the expectations of the outside world in the past 10 years have finally become a reality, and the navy's strategic plan to march into the open sea has also been reliably supported, and it is about to usher in its own glory.
