Image source: topwar.ru
Western resources monitoring the state of the Chinese fleet report on the launching of the new Type 052DL destroyer, which is being built at the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry shipyard, on August 30, 2023.
This is the ninth ship of the 052DL project (a total of 10 units of this class were laid down) with a total displacement of over 7,500 tons.
- it is said in the Western press.
4 VPU modules with 8 cells each are located in the bow, 4 others are located in the stern. The VPU can be equipped with a large range of weapons of destruction: the YJ-18 cruise missile defense system, the YJ-21 hypersonic missile system, the HHQ-9 long-range missile defense system, the Type 8 (YU-8) rocket-propelled torpedo and the CJ-10 ground attack missile system.
Image source: topwar.ru
In the future, it is possible to equip the Type 052DL with the HQ-26 long-range anti-aircraft missile system, which will turn these ships into mobile missile defense platforms.
The Type 052DL armament also includes a single-barrel 130-mm gun, a Type 1130 melee system, a short-range HHQ-10 air defense system with 24 cells, twin three-tube 324-mm torpedo tubes, four 122-mm rocket launchers with 18 guides and a Z-9C or Ka-28 anti-submarine helicopter. It is expected that the latter will eventually be replaced by the more advanced Z-20F.
