Monday, 30 November 2020

PHOTO GALLERY #35: Binzhou, frigate of the People's Liberation Army Navy

Binzhou, Type 054A-class frigate of the PLAN
Another photo gallery from my visit to Kiel in 2018, on the first weekend of the 136th Kiel Week. More galleries will follow from 2018-19 Kiel Weeks. The Kiel Week (German: Kieler Woche) or Kiel Regatta is an annual sailing event in Kiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The first weekend of the Kiel Week, the famous Naval Base of Kiel, opens its gates for just four hours per day, for thousands of tourists who are eager to visit the German Navy warships and dozens of foreign warships which visit the city of Kiel, to honor the Kiel Week. This post is about a very unique visitor to Kiel, a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 054A class frigate (Jiangkai II), Binzhou (515)! 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. It is a development of the Type 054 frigate (2 ships), using the same hull but with improved sensors and weapons (such as a VLS instead of a trainable launcher, new CIWS and main gun). This is the second frigate of the class I visited after the Yuncheng (see here) in 2015. Binzhou was commissioned in December 2016 and she is the 23rd vessel (Batch III) in a class of total 30 ships (pus the two Type 054s) until now. A new frigate that is under development will succeed the class. Binzhou is 134 meters long and has a full displacement around 4,000 tons. Enjoy the photos!

The Chinese frigate Binzhou together with other
warships at the Kiel Naval Base

View of the mast of Binzhou
Bow view (stem)
View of the superstructure
View of the superstructure. Note the impressive USS Oak Hill
Photo gallery of the American ship here.
Binzhou's mast. Note the number of EO-sensors!
View of the bridge
The Type 382 3D air/surface search radar on the main mast
Guards observing the visitors for ship's safety
The hangar can accommodate a Harbin Z-9C helicopter
Two 345 SAM FCRs atop the hangar and
various SATCOM antennas among other sensors

Note the hatch for the H/SJG-206 towed array sonar
Type  364 radar forward of the funnel
Hatches for RHIB (above) and for triple torpedo launcher (below)
Hatch for the triple torpedo launcher
View of the SSM amidships and the Type 364 surface search
radar forward of the funnel
View of the mast
The ship is equipped with a variety of sensors including numerous
EO-sensors and antennas of various types

The helicopter hangar
Flight deck and Harbin Z-9C helicopter

Harbin Z-9C helicopter
View of the helicopter's cockpit
Harbin Z-9C helicopter
Hangar, flight deck and Harbin Z-9C helicopter
Frigate Binzhou (515)
People on the flight deck
View of the huge German FGS Frankfurt am Main
FGS Frankfurt am Main and USS Oak Hill
View of the stern

Triple 324mm Yu-7 ASW torpedo launcher

Triple 324mm Yu-7 ASW torpedo launcher.
It was not allowed to take photos further on.

76mm gun (copy of Russian AK176)

PJ26 76mm dual purpose gun
The PJ26 76mm single dual purpose gun
Type 366 and Type 382 radars
32-cell VLS for HQ-16 MR SAM
32-cell VLS for HQ-16 SAM forward of the bridge
32-cell VLS for HQ-16 SAM
Bizhou's bridge
The SAM VLS and the main 3in gun
Type 87 240mm ASW rocket launchers covered
View of the deck gun and the VLS
Bow deck of Binzhou
Jackstaff
View of the superstructure from the bow deck

Amidships the two quadruple launchers of the YJ-83 (C-803)
SSM with a range of about 180km
Type 345 (MR90) radar and EW jammer
Type 1130 eleven-barrel 30mm CIWS
The hangar with the multiple SATCOM antennas
Type 726-4 18-tube decoy launcher
Harbin Z-9C multi-role helicopter
Type 726-4 18-tube decoy launcher
View of the mast with the Type 382 Radar atop
EW suite and SSM launchers
View of the Chinese frigate Binzhou
Note the Type 345 SAM FCRs, two at each side
The large dome atop the bridge contains the Type 366 radar, a
Chinese development of Russian MR-331 Mineral-ME
The FCR behind and higher than the Type 345 FCR is
the Type 344 FCR for the gun

View of the ships anchored close to Binzhou

3 comments:

  1. Type 730 seven-barrel 30mm CIWS should be Type 1130 eleven-barrel 30mm CIWS. The difference is the number of barrels and the shape of the gatling gun support when viewed from the front. Type 730 is squareish, while Type 1130 is hexagonal.

    Note: looks like the for the current Chinese gun CIWS, the naming convention is number of barrels + gun caliber. Hence Type 730 = 7 barrels 30mm, Type 1130 = 11 barrels 30mm. Pretty easy to understand.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the correction. I am very aware of the designation names. It is like the Russian AK630. I just copied the caption based on my previous visit to Yuncheng https://www.navalanalyses.com/2015/02/photo-gallery-5-yuncheng-frigate-of.html

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    2. You're welcome :)

      just some info for those who didn't know and are curious of how the Chinese name their CIWS.

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