Type 054A frigate

Type 054A frigate Yueyang (575)
Class overview
Builders:	Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard Huangpu Shipyard
Operators:	People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force
Preceded by:	Type 054 frigate
Subclasses:	Type 054A Type 054A+
Cost:	¥ 1.58 billion
Building:	5 as of May 2015[update]
Planned:	27
Active:	23
General characteristics
Type:	Frigate
Displacement:	4,053 tonnes (full)(CCTV report)
Length:	134.1 m (440 ft)(CCTV report)
Beam:	16 m (52 ft) (CCTV report)
Propulsion:	CODAD, 4 x Shaanxi 16 PA6 STC diesels, 5700 kW (7600+ hp @ 1084 rpm) each
Speed:	27 kn estimated
Range:	8025 nautical miles estimated
Complement:	165
Sensors and processing systems:	Type 382 Radar (Upgraded from Type 381 Radar "Sea Eagle S/C") 3D air/surface search radar Type 344 Radar (Mineral-ME Band Stand) OTH target acquisition and SSM fire control radar 4 × Type 345 Radar(MR-90 Front Dome) SAM fire control radars MR-36A surface search radar, I-band Type 347G 76 mm gun fire control radar 2 × Racal RM-1290 navigation radars, I-band MGK-335 medium frequency active/passive sonar system ZKJ-4B/6 (developed from Thomson-CSF TAVITAC) combat data system HN-900 Data link (Chinese equivalent of Link 11A/B, to be upgraded) SNTI-240 SATCOM AKD5000S Ku band SATCOM
Electronic warfare & decoys:	Type 922-1 radar warning receiver HZ-100 ECM & ELINT system Kashtan-3 missile jamming system
Armament:	1 × 32-cell VLS HQ-16 SAM Yu-8 anti submarine rocket launcher 2 × 4 C-803 anti-ship / land attack cruise missiles 1 × PJ26 76 mm dual purpose gun 2 × Type 730 7-barrel 30 mm CIWS guns or Type 1130 2 × 3 324mm YU-7 ASW torpedo launchers 2 × 6 Type 87 240mm anti-submarine rocket launcher (36 rockets carried) 2 × Type 726-4 18-tube decoy rocket launchers
Aircraft carried:	1 Kamov Ka-28 'Helix' or Harbin Z-9C
Aviation facilities:	hangar

The Type 054A (NATO codename Jiangkai II) frigate is a class of Chinese multi-role frigates, the first of which entered service with the People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force in 2007. The class is planned to comprise 24+ vessels. As of 2016^[update], 22 are in service, 1 is fitting out, and 2 are under construction. It is a development of the Type 054 frigate, using the same hull but with improved sensors and weapons.

The Type 054A was first revealed while under construction at the Guangzhou-based Huangpu Shipyard in 2005.

The Type 054A carries HQ-16 medium-range air defence missiles and various anti submarine rockets in a VLS system. The HQ-16 provides area air defence from all engagement angles up to a range of 50 km, a considerable improvement over the HQ-7 carried on the Type 054 which have inferior range and limited engagement angles. Contrary to HQ-9 VLS on Type 052C destroyer which adopts a cold launch method, HQ-16 appears to adopt a hot launch method instead, with the same design principle of US Mk 41 VLS: a shared common exhaust system is sited between the two rows of rectangular launching tubes.The VLS system is also capable of firing anti-submarine missiles.

The 4 AK-630 close-in weapon systems (CIWS) of the Type 054 were replaced with 2 Type 730 CIWS on the Type 054A. The autonomous Type 730 provides improved reaction time against close-in threats.

The 100 mm main gun on earlier Type 054 class is replaced by H/PJ26 stealthy 76 mm dual purpose gun mount, which is a Chinese development of Russian AK-176. The adoption of smaller caliber gun is the result of the need of higher rate of fire for air defense, including sea-skimming anti-ship missiles. H/PJ26 utilizes advanced synthetic material such as fiber glass to a much greater degree than the original AK-176, resulting in over 30% of weight reduction to 11.5 ton of H/PJ26, as opposed to the 16.8+ tons of AK-176.