Images circulating on social media and now news outlets have recently confirmed that production of the PLAN’s new Type 054B frigate is well underway, with the first two vessels seemingly approaching launch. Images of the long-anticipated replacement to the Type 054A have leaked out over the past year or so since May 2022 when (I believe) the first images of new construction were seen in the Huangpu shipyard in Guangzhou. A second frigate has also been confirmed as under construction at the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai, and both are expected to be in the water by the end of the year if not sooner.
Type 054B (left) in Huangpu Source: Weibo
Imagery of the hulls under construction show the finished Type 054B will be about 147 metres in length and have a beam of around 18 metres, leading to an estimated displacement of around 6,000 tons - half as much again as the Type 054A it will replace and more in line with some of the large European frigate designs. Images also show a very different hull design to its predecessor, with comparisons being made to both the Type 052D destroyer and even the bad boy of the (near) seas, the Type 055 cruiser.
What’s it replacing?
To understand the evolution of the Chinese frigate fleet and where the new ship sits in that lineage it's worth looking at its predecessors. The Type 054A is without doubt China's most successful frigate design to date, but as the name suggests it too grew out of an earlier design.
Only three of the original Type 054 were produced from 1999 to 2005. Designed with one eye on the Taiwanese Kang Ding-class frigates and borrowing heavily in both design and systems from the French LaFayette-class, the original Type 054 was a necessary replacement to the thoroughly obsolete Type 053/H3, whose job had been to protect China’s littorals. However, before long the PLAN recognised that a far greater air defence capability was needed to protect the fleet, and having only a handful of air defence destroyers available decided to redefine the role of the Type 054 to provide an air defence umbrella. The resulting Type 054A was slightly larger, displacing around 4,000 tons fully loaded and sporting a redesigned hull, better radar and 32 vertical launch tubes (VLS). This gave the PLAN a pretty capable ship that was able to take on missions far more demanding than patrolling the Chinese coast.
The Type 054A has performed well in this expanded role, forming the backbone of China’s near-seas operations and taking part in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden as well as evacuations in Libya and Yemen and joining large PLAN ships such as China’s aircraft carriers. China has commissioned about 40 Type 054A since 2008, and were still pumping them out into the 2020s, as well as selling several nerfed versions to Pakistan.
Type 054A Limitations
Despite a good operational record, and while generally regarded as a capable and reliable ship, the Type 054A is limited by its size, armament and electronics outfitting. Borrowing heavily from the French LaFayette-class design, the Type 054/054A was also a conservative choice that showed limited capability for ship design by Chinese ship builders. That said, it seems that despite the number launched the Type 054A was always regarded as a stop-gap in the ongoing development of the PLAN frigate force.
Apparently extended operations in the Gulf of Aden showed that the limited space aboard the Type 054A made it awkward to carry out necessary repairs after some system failures - a legacy of the ships being designed for near-seas ops rather than prolonged operations.
In addition, although a capable enough anti-submarine warfare (ASW) ship, by modern standards the Type 054A’s anti-air capability is beginning to look dated. In its role as an inner ring of ASW and last-ditch air-defence against sea-skimming anti-ship missiles (ASM) that make it past the outer ring of destroyers in a carrier group, the Type 054A’s HHQ-16 SAMs and Type 382 Sea Eagle S-band radar were fine, but limited when not twinned with a Type 052D destroyer and were starting to show their age. The Type 054A could also do with a bit more horsepower in order to keep up with larger ships, as its 25 knots isn’t enough to keep pace with a carrier at full throttle.
Type 054A FFG Hengshui
While the Sea Eagle radar weighs only about 9 tons in total and can be mounted higher up to improve detection range, it’s a little slow against targets like super-sonic ASMs and at range its S-band cannot provide sufficient targeting for missile guidance - meaning 054A needs higher frequency X-band radars to fill this role, leading to cost and maintenance increases.
Finally, the Type 054A’s HAJK-16 VLS can launch the Yu-8 ASW rocket and HHQ-16 family of air defence missiles, but is too small to carry some of the newer missiles the PLAN has introduced on the larger Type 052D and Type 055 ships. In short, the Type 054A has been a good ship, but its time for an upgrade.
Does Size Really Matter?
To put the new Type 054B’s 6,000 tons displacement in context the US’s planned Constellation-class will displace about 7,200 tons fully-loaded, while the UK’s planned Type 31 and 26 frigates will be 5,600 tons and 6,900 tons respectively and Japan’s new Mogami-class 5,500 tons.
The extra size the 054B will have over the 054A brings a number of benefits. As a general rule, larger ships are faster as they can accommodate larger engines and power generators. Greater power generation means more juice for power-hungry radar systems, which in turn also require larger and more stable hulls to support their not-inconsiderable weight. Radars are best placed as high above the waterline as possible to maximise their range, but this compromises stability and requires a wide ship to stabilise them (some argue that this is antiquated thinking and advances in technology warrant a radical rethinking of naval ship design). Of course more space also means more room for stores, fuel, spares etc which increases a ship’s endurance. Perhaps most importantly, it means more varied and bigger weapons, and these days that means missiles. Afterall, what’s the point in that big powerful radar if it doesn’t have suitably long-ranged and hard-hitting missiles?
Type 054B in Huangpu
What to expect from the Type 054B?
As far along as the new ships under construction are, there remain some unknowns as to their final specifications. The bulkier superstructure will almost certainly support a more advanced radar system than the Type 382 Sea Eagle on the 054A, but likely not the Type 346 “Dragon Eye” AESA radar the PLAN puts on the Type 052D destroyers and other large ships. Best guess is that a new double-sided rotating AESA radar will be installed as an upgrade from the Sea Eagle but not quite as capable as the Dragon Eye.
Likely choices for a naval gun boil down to the 76mm HP/J-26 on the current ships and the larger, 100mm Type 210. While the 100mm may be used, the 76mm makes more sense as it better fits the role of an ASW/AA frigate which is probably not going to be doing many coastal barrages but will take over some of the low-intensity roles such as anti-piracy of the Type 054A. Likewise, the 130mm off PLAN destroyers and cruisers would be way too big and total overkill.
Type 054B in water at Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai
Improvements to the sonar suite are possible, although later Type 054As were themselves upgraded, but with newer engines the Type 054B may see better ASW performance, especially if the new ship ditches the diesel engines in favour of Integrated Electric Propulsion (IEP) as expected. We can also expect the new ship to carry the new Z-20 ASW helicopter rather than the old Z-9 in current use.
The bigger question is whether the new ships will retain the H/AJK-16 VLS system of their predecessors or be equipped with the newer GJB 5860-2006 Universal Vertical Launch System (UVLS) China is putting on its larger ships. This comes in two variants - the seven metre and the nine metre. While the seven metre can only carry air-defence missiles (all be they quad packed), the longer version can launch other tasty treats like the YJ-18 anti-ship missile. The UVLS seems more likely, as aside from the logistical advantages of having the same ammunition requirements across the fleet, the UVLS would enable the Type 054B to carry missiles like the longer-ranged SAM the HHQ-9 and the YJ-18 ASM or even the YJ-21 ASBM (but only if the longer version is installed). Given the frigate’s role in ASW and air defence, the shorter seven metre variant seems more likely. Given the greater size of the UVLS over the H/AJK-16 there probably won’t be any room aboard for additional cells, so the Type 054B will probably also have around 32 like its forerunner.
China’s Evolving Frigate Role
As mentioned, the original Type 054/A was heavily influenced by the LaFayette-Class, showing China’s immaturity in ship design and design-limiting the Type 054/A. The fact that the 054B looks so different is further proof if any were needed to the strides Chinese shipbuilders have made since the 1990s.
More interesting is the evolving role the PLAN has for its frigates. The larger design with more capable systems will suit the Type 054B to extended, far-seas operations better than the Type 054A. Radar systems such as the US’ Aegis or the Chinese Dragon Eye radars also really come into their own when they work with radar capable aircraft operating at distance - something the PLAN didn’t have back when the Type 054/A were conceptualised but which would now suit a more advanced FFG design. At the same time, the completion of 72 Type 056/A corvettes - the first 22 of which have been transferred to the Chinese Coast Guard - means the PLAN’s frigates can be freed up from some of the patrolling of the Chinese littorals and South China Sea to pursue missions further afield. Finally, a bigger - and presumably faster - frigate will be able to contribute more to carrier protection, not just with its better weapons systems but by virtue of being able to keep up with the PLAN’s new carriers, especially the forthcoming Type 003 Fujian.
With at least two ships likely to be in the water by the end of the year, and given the impressive ship building capacity China has, we can expect Type 054Bs to be pumped out at a rate that will far outpace that of the US Navy’s Constellation-class programme. How many will be commissioned and how fast they will replace the Type 054A (some of which will remain in service for many years to come) is a guess, but three or four ships per year once production is up and running is easily within China’s abilities, so it won’t be long before we could see the new frigate in seas and ports the world over.
Good
Excellent article!