[Military and Military Sub-Planes] Author: Lele A few months ago, the navy's most cutting-edge 052D series Dazhou ship quietly entered service. This is the most cutting-edge batch in the entire 052 family, and is temporarily called "052DM". Technically speaking, "052DM" basically

[Military and Military Sub-Planes] Author: Lele

A few months ago, the navy’s most cutting-edge 052d series Dazhou ship quietly entered service. This is the most cutting-edge batch in the entire 052 family, and is temporarily called "052dm". Technically speaking, "052dm" basically maximizes the potential of the 052 hull, and should be the crowning work of the entire series. The warships that will take over the 052 series of tasks in the future will most likely be the "055 simplified version."

▲051 is not really a success.

The development of domestic destroyers is actually very difficult. The advent of 051 in the early years was a complete accident. At that time, the navy based on offshore operations had no demand for destroyers at all, and the technical level of warship manufacturing was limited. It cannot support more than 3,000 tons combat ships. In fact, except for that crucial support mission, the 051 that was completed and put into service had few achievements before 2000. There were serious problems during the design, and the early type 051 was always empty after delivery. The greatest significance is that it allows the country to fully experience the process of building and using large ships, and know what they need and what they should use. As a product directly driven by this experience, the 052, which started construction in 1989, had high hopes when it was still on the drawing board. As a result, it reached a deadlock due to the complicated sources of shipboard equipment and the breakdown of relations with Europe and the United States.

▲052’s development history is also very difficult and dangerous.

Now we all laugh at Indian warships as a “hodgepodge of nations”. In fact, the same was true for the Harbin ship back then. China spent a lot of effort on debugging it after its delivery, but in the end it was only barely usable. The condition of the second Qingdao ship was better, but there was no essential difference (the problems of the two ships were finally solved by thorough transformation). Seeing that the 052 was really not useful, the move was made in the 1990s to build a 051b and purchase four "modern" destroyers. Based on "modern" use experience, China launched 052b on the 052 hull, and the 052 series began to exceed the 5,000-ton threshold. The 052c launched in the same period was equipped with the domestically produced Hongqi-9, and its tonnage was even better. The appearance of 052b and 052c at the same time is generally said implicitly because the destroyer development route was uncertain at that time, and two attempts were made. In fact, this was a compromise method as a last resort due to disagreements within the Navy at that time.

▲The short-lived 052b

Fortunately, the domestic shipbuilding industry has made rapid progress at this stage, and the domestic air defense system, which has always been weak, has also risen due to the progress of the entire industrial system. The start of construction of the second batch of 052c in 2010 heralded the final unification of differences within the Navy. The positioning of the 052b medium-range air defense/auxiliary chores was assumed by the 4,000-ton 054a, while the 052c was only responsible for the key mission of large air defense ships. Of course, these six 052cs were only transitional equipment to make up for the unusual lack of large-scale air defense ships in the country at that time. The 7,000-ton class 052d that followed was the main warship seriously planned by the navy. As the most successful model in the 052 series, the subsequent construction and service of the 052d went very smoothly. The journey of the Jiaozuo ship from crossing the Red Sea to returning home from Alexandria is a direct manifestation.

▲Transition model 052c

052d performance is not invincible, but it does find an excellent balance between performance and cost based on the existing mothership, equipment and technology. The only obvious shortcoming is that the Z-9 carrier-based helicopter is too small and far from meeting the needs of modern naval warfare. In theory, starting from the 052dl, preparations have been made to carry the 10-ton Z-20. For this purpose, the helicopter deck and hangar have even been specially expanded. However, so far, the outside world has only seen the Z-9.Based on the 052dl, the 052dm further strengthens the radar and electronic equipment, but this is just the icing on the cake. Everyone is actually looking forward to the 052dm, as the first model in the entire 052 series to be officially equipped with the Z-20. Again, the entire navy has waited too long for the Z-20 to be put on board.

▲052d has changed its appearance.

From the original 4800-ton 052 to the current 7500-ton 052dm, the entire 052 series has changed significantly enough, and can even be said to be huge. I couldn't have imagined it at first. But even the best models may run out of potential. The 052dm has now reached the point where it has no value for improvement. Unlike the frigates with the launch of the 054b, there have been no new models of domestic destroyers so far. The only hope is to shrink the 13,000-ton 055 and launch a low-profile 8,000-ton version. This is also the way the U.S. Navy evolved from the "Ticonderoga" class cruiser to the "Burke" class destroyer. To put it bluntly, the story of 052 is coming to an end, but the glory of domestic destroyers has just begun.