The Type 052B (NATO/OSD Luyang I-class destroyer) is a class of guided-missile destroyers in the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force (PLAN). Two ships - Guangzhou and Wuhan - were begun in 2001 and commissioned in July and December 2004 respectively. The Type 052B was China's first modern destroyer designKirchberger (2015): page 195McDevitt (2017): page 57 and the first Chinese design to incorporate true medium-range air defence capability in the form of Russian Shtil-1 (improved navalized Buk, NATO designation SA-N-12) surface-to-air missiles (SAM).Schwartz (2015): page 26 The H/AKJ-16 VLS-based HQ-16 surface-to-air missiles were installed on the ships during modernization.

Programme In the early 2000's, China pursued multiple - and sometimes concurrent - programmes to acquire modern destroyers, purchasing s from Russia and constructing the Type 052B, Type 051C, and Type 052C.Kirchberger (2015): page 193 These ships also represented steps to develop adequate air defense capabilities by adopting Russian air defense technology.;Schwartz (2015): pages 25 the 25-km range Uragan (navalized Buk, NATO designation SA-N-7) on the Sovremenny; the 35-km range Shtil-1 on the Type 052B; long-range area air defense with the 150-km range Rif-M (navalized S-300, NATO designation SA-N-20) on the Type 051C; and finally the Chinese 100-km range HHQ-9 (S-300 derivative) on the Type 052C.Schwartz (2015): pages 26-28

The Type 052B's air defence capabilities were obsolete upon entering service when compared to contemporary American and Japanese designs. Nonetheless it represented a considerable general improvement over previous Chinese warships and was the precursor to later Chinese air warfare destroyers.McDevitt (2017): page 58

Design The hull is based on the Type 051B destroyer with added stealth features.

Ships of Class Number Pennant number Name Builder Launched Commissioned Fleet Status 1 168 广州 / Guangzhou Jiangnan 25 May 2002Jane's Fighting Ships, 2023-24 Edition, ISBN 978-0-7106-3428 3, page 141. 15 July 2004 South Sea Fleet Active 2 169 武汉 / Wuhan 9 September 2002 December 2004 Active

Gallery

See also List of destroyer classes in service

Equivalent destroyers of the same era

References

Bibliography