China has set a kind of record in the construction of warships. Yesterday, February 18, the portal chinamil.com.cn He reported that the last two corvettes of the Type 056A project out of 72 ordered entered service with the PLA Navy.
According to China Central Television (CCTV), the Nanyang and Shangqiu corvettes, with tail numbers 619 and 618, became the final in a series of 72 ships of the Type 056 project for the Chinese navy. Another eight ships of the same type were built for export. Thus, since 2011, four Chinese shipyards (Hudong-Zhonghua in Shanghai, Huangpu Shipyard in Guangzhou, Liaonan Shipyard in Dalian and Wuchang Shipyard in Wuhan) have built 80 ships of the Type 056 project.
3D model of the Type 056 corvette
Image source: chinesedefence.com
According to CCTV, the first 22 ships for the PLA Navy were built according to the Type 056 project, and the remaining 50-according to the upgraded Type 056A project, which features advanced anti-submarine warfare capabilities. In total, the Type 056 and Type 056A have six versions of the ships, which differ slightly from each other.
The lead ship of the Bengbu series (tail number 582) was built at the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard, launched in May 2012 and handed over to the PLA Navy on 25 February 2013. The new corvettes replace the patrol and patrol ships of the outdated Type 037 and Type 051 designs that are in service.
The main armament of the corvette project Type 056
Image source: nairaland.com
The ships of the Type 056 project are relatively small in size (length-89 m, displacement-1300 t) and are designed for patrolling the coastal zone. The armament of the corvettes is represented by four YJ-83 medium-range anti-ship cruise missiles (with a range of up to 160 km); HQ-10 short-range anti-aircraft missile system (ammo — 24 SAM); two 324 mm triple-barreled torpedo tubes; as well as a 76-mm gun and two 30-mm automatic guns. At the stern of the corvette is a helipad.
