Is Russia going to buy warships from China?
In the past few days, many Russian media have published articles, believing that Russia needs to purchase warships from China to quickly enrich the Russian Navy surface ships.
Russian netizens discussed these articles very intensely. Some Russian netizens thought this was a good thing. they even felt that they should have bought warships from China a long time ago.
Let's not talk about the Russian official's position on this. Let's take a look at what warships China has. Which is suitable for the Russian navy ?
The Russian Navy is facing a harsh marine environment.
Russia’s marine environment can be said to be the worst among several major military powers. Why does
say this? Because Russia's coastline is too scattered , several major directions have to face many difficulties in supporting each other.
Let’s take a look at the situation in China and the United States.
(The Chinese Navy has three major fleets)
Readers and friends should know that the Chinese Navy has three major fleets , namely the North Sea , the East China Sea , and the South China Sea Fleet.
Although there are three fleets, because China has four territorial waters ( Bohai , Yellow Sea , East China Sea, South China Sea ) are connected together , it is very easy for China's three major fleets to support each other. .
For example, in the confrontation in the South China Sea in 2016, the main forces of China's three major fleets were all concentrated in the South China Sea to confront the aggressive American aircraft carriers.
The U.S. Navy has 7 fleets, 6 of which actually have warships (the 10th fleet is the cyber warfare force ).
These six fleets can basically be divided into Pacific Fleet and Atlantic Fleet , which are deployed in the west and east of the United States respectively.
(The U.S. Navy is generally divided into two ocean fleets)
If the U.S. Navy needs one of the fleets to support the other fleet, it will have to pass through the narrow Panama Canal , which will take a lot of time.
Because of this limitation, all US aircraft carriers are designed to be large enough to pass through the Panama Canal, which limits the development of US aircraft carriers to a certain extent.
However, compared to and Russia, , the marine environment in China and the United States is really much better.
The Russian Navy has a total of four fleets, namely Black Sea Fleet , Baltic Fleet, Northern Fleet and Pacific Fleet , in addition to a Caspian Sea Squadron.
Among the four fleets, the mission areas of the Black Sea Fleet are Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea , and the mission areas of the Baltic Sea Fleet are Baltic Sea and Nordic Sea .
(Russian Navy Baltic Fleet)
The Northern Fleet mission area is the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic , and the Pacific Fleet mission area is the Pacific . Among the four fleets of
, it is very difficult for to support each other .
For example, from the Baltic Fleet to the Black Sea Fleet, you need to circle the entire Europe and pass near several countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Italy before you can reach the Black Sea Fleet mission area.
The mission area from the Baltic Sea to the Northern Fleet is faced with the problem that the waterway has been blocked by ice floes in the Arctic for a long time, making movement very inconvenient.
The Pacific Fleet in the Far East is even more difficult to receive support.
(The Arctic Ocean shipping lanes are blocked by ice floes all year round)
When the Arctic Ocean shipping lanes are blocked by floating ice all year round, the three fleets located in Europe, want to support the Far East Pacific Fleet, must detour the Indian Ocean .
Starting from Europe, passing the Suez Canal and the Red Sea , detouring the Indian Ocean and the Strait of Malacca and sailing tens of thousands of kilometers to support the Pacific region.
If Western countries interfere and prevent the Russian navy from passing through the Suez Canal, they will have to go around the Cape of Good Hope in the southernmost part of Africa. The voyage is close to 20,000 kilometers .
Therefore, the Russian Navy has relatively poor congenital development conditions.
What kind of warships does the Russian Navy need?
The Russian Navy has harsh conditions, What kind of warships does it need?
We can divide Russia's four major fleets into three parts: the Northern Fleet located in the Arctic region located in the Black Sea and Baltic Sea in the European region , and the Pacific Fleet located in the Far East region .
These three parts have different needs for warships because of the different geographical environments and different combat objectives they face.
(What the Russian Northern Fleet needs is the nuclear submarine )
Let’s first take a look at the Northern Fleet, which has the simplest needs.
Because most of the Arctic Ocean is covered by ice floes, and Russia actually no longer has the ability to extend its maritime power to the North Atlantic region.
Therefore, the main warships needed by the Russian Northern Fleet are actually nuclear submarines that can operate under the ice floes in the Arctic Ocean.
In this regard, Russia itself can provide sufficiently powerful nuclear submarines. In fact, the focus of the Russian Navy is also on maintaining the combat effectiveness of its nuclear-powered submarine force.
Then there is the Black Sea Fleet and the Baltic Fleet in Europe.
(The sunk "Moscow" )
The two fleets are under the greatest pressure, because they have to face the threat of the NATO navy , and the European region sea area is small , and various land-based forces pose a threat to the navy. A big threat.
For example, the Russian Navy cruiser "Moscow" that was sunk in the past few months was attacked by land-based anti-ship missiles because it was too close to the coast of Ukraine.
At the same time, the water depth in the Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Black Sea is relatively shallow, and in many places the water depth is only a few meters.
Therefore, in order to ensure that warships can maneuver flexibly in these small waters, it is required that the tonnage of the warships should not be too large. If it is too large, it will not be able to enter some shallow sea areas.
(The depth of the Baltic sea is relatively shallow)
Also, based on Russia's current military situation, the demand for large-scale naval battles is not very high. Supporting ground operations and blocking the coastline are the main tasks of the Russian Navy.
Finally, there is the Pacific Fleet in the Far East.
The Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet in the Far East faces the U.S. Alaska Garrison, Japan, and the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Geographically speaking, the Russian Pacific Fleet is in deep-water waters as soon as it leaves the port. What is needed is large warships that can operate in the depths of the ocean.
(U.S. nuclear submarine)
and Alaska is one of the main bases of US Navy nuclear submarines , so the Russian Pacific Fleet also faces greater anti-submarine combat pressure.
The Chinese warship that is most suitable for the Russian Navy - 054A
After analyzing the needs of several Russian naval fleets, let’s take a look at Which Chinese warships are suitable for the Russian Navy .
First of all, what the Russian Northern Fleet needs is advanced nuclear submarines . China really cannot produce better products than Russia, and its production capacity of nuclear submarines is not better than Russia's.
(In terms of nuclear submarines, Russia is still ahead of China for the time being)
Therefore, the demand for the Russian Northern Fleet, still has to be solved by Russia itself .
Then there are the Baltic Fleet and Black Sea Fleet in Europe.
At present, the two fleets of the Russian Navy are mainly equipped with small surface warships such as 20380 and 11350. Small surface warships such as
and can carry 8-16 cruise missiles for long-range land attacks.
At the same time, these small surface warships are also equipped with short-range point air defense weapons, and some are also equipped with 4-8 KH35 anti-ship missiles. The overall air defense and anti-ship combat effectiveness is comparable to that of the Chinese 056 frigate..
(20380 light frigate)
This small surface warship is very suitable for the current situation of the Russian Navy. The cost of construction and use is relatively low , and it can also carry out long-range land strikes.
However, the air defense combat capabilities that short-range point air defense weapons can bring, basically have little effect on modern anti-ship missiles.
Therefore, the Russian Navy lacks a battleship with moderate cost, moderate tonnage and powerful air defense capability.
The Russian Navy 22350 frigate is a warship that can meet the needs of the Russian Navy. However, this warship faces serious production capacity problems. In more than ten years, only two 22350 frigates have been in service.
So China’s 054A frigate has become a very good choice.
(Chinese 054A frigate)
054A frigate's displacement is only 4,000 tons , which is smaller than the Russian Navy's 22350 frigate (5,000 tons), and there is no problem navigating in European waters.
In terms of air defense weapons and equipment, the 054A is equipped with the HQ16/16B air defense missile of the 32 vertical launch unit. The former has a slant range of 40 kilometers and the latter has a slant range of 70 kilometers. The slant range of
anti-aircraft missiles is much smaller than the maximum range . For example, the standard 2MR anti-aircraft missile in the United States has a maximum range of 160 kilometers, but the slant range has a range of only 70 or 80 kilometers.
This is because the slant range ballistics of consume more energy and are not the most energy efficient ballistics, so the range is much less than the maximum range of the most energy efficient.
(Exhibition board data of HQ16B)
HQ16B anti-aircraft missile has a slant range of 70 kilometers, so the maximum range of should be 120 kilometers to 150 kilometers .
This range is the leading in the entire European region. The maximum range of Europe's "Aster" series of air defense missiles is only more than 100 kilometers.
Moreover, HQ16B uses an active guidance radar, so it can achieve "launch and forget" and can attack several to a dozen targets at the same time.
This is something that the Russian Navy air defense missiles that are still using semi-active guidance and command guidance cannot do.
In addition, the HQ16B's interception height can reach a minimum of 5 meters , which can intercept any modern anti-ship missile without the problem that the Russian air defense system cannot intercept ultra-low-altitude targets.
(054A equipped with HQ16B has the ability to intercept any NATO anti-ship missile)
Overall, the performance of the 054A frigate is very suitable for the Russian Black Sea Fleet and North Sea Fleet .
Finally, there is the Pacific Fleet in the Far East.
Theoretically, the most suitable Chinese warship for the Pacific Fleet in the Far East is the advanced destroyer such as 52D.
052D has very strong air defense capabilities, excellent anti-submarine capabilities and anti-ship capabilities . It can fully undertake the task of confronting the main fleet of the US Navy head-on in the depths of the ocean.
Of course, the cost of 52D destroyer is not cheap. One ship costs US$5.6 billion, which is close to 4 billion yuan.
There are still many problems when Russia purchases Chinese warships.
When Russia purchases warships from China, has to face several relatively large practical problems.
First of all, politically, for Russia, purchasing warships from China is a politically incorrect thing .
(After all, twenty years ago, China imported main warships from Russia)
Not to mention the entire warship, even the diesel engines that Russia had previously purchased from China for warships had caused considerable controversy in Russia. It took several years to get going smoothly.
After all, Russia has inherited the Soviet military-industrial system. It is a former military-industrial power. It is not easy for Russia to purchase products from other countries on core main battle equipment such as warships.
Secondly, Russia may not be able to allocate much funds to purchase warships from China.
Russia has a clear plan to re-train the domestic shipbuilding industry by building independent warships, so most of the funds are invested in Russian domestic shipyards.
(Russia is re-cultivating the shipbuilding industry by gradually increasing the displacement of warships)
054A frigate is one of the most cost-effective warships in the world, , but its cost, including training, ammunition, etc., is also more expensive $400 million .
If Russia wants to actually use 054A to improve its naval combat effectiveness, it will need to purchase at least 4-8 ships, which is a procurement cost of 1.6-3.2 billion US dollars.
This is a considerable expense for Russia, which is currently experiencing a economic downturn and its military expenditures are stretched .
Finally, the technical performance of 054A may still need some improvement for the Russian Navy.
(The anti-ship and ground attack capabilities of 054A are still a bit poor)
Comparison The Russian Navy does not have enough funds to maintain a larger fleet size . With a limited number of warships, the Russian Navy has a multi-purpose capability for warships. is relatively demanding. Although
054A has strong air defense capabilities, anti-ship and ground attack capabilities are not so good.
Judging from the current situation of the Russian Navy, when the Russian Navy introduces an advanced air defense frigate, it will definitely hope that this warship will also have good anti-ship and ground attack capabilities .
Therefore, if 054A is to be exported to Russia, still needs to be improved to a certain extent to strengthen the anti-ship and land attack capabilities of 054A.
Generally speaking, the information revealed by the Russian media report may, to a certain extent, represent some of the ideas of the Kremlin .
However, there is still a lot of work to be done in order for Chinese warships to be successfully exported to Russia. There are still many variables, we will wait and see.
