Recently, everyone knows about the foreign trade of 052D destroyers, in fact, as early as last year's defense exhibition, the relevant displays and introductions of 052D foreign trade have appeared, the model is "whale shark", and the 054A foreign trade model is "tiger shark". After all, with the mature experience of 054AP foreign trade, domestic ship foreign trade definitely hopes to win more large orders. At the Abu Dhabi Defense Exhibition, the 052D destroyer arrived directly at the scene and was open for viewing. Recently, foreign media said that Algeria intends to introduce 052DE foreign trade ships, but whether the contract can be finalized depends on whether the level of military spending on the Algerian side can support the introduction of large destroyers.
According to social media reports, foreign media said that the Algerian Navy may have ordered six Type 052D destroyers, three of which are expected to be delivered to Afghanistan by domestic manufacturing, while the next three will be built by the Arab shipyard itself.
According to the content of the report, the number of 052D introduced by the Arab side this time may be as high as 6 ships, in terms of 052D unit price, if the hull, ammunition plus supporting spare parts and services, but the cost of the ship may reach 6 billion, about 1 billion US dollars, then 6 ships at least 6 billion US dollars, which does not include the investment in shipyards, equipment and personnel if the Arab side builds 3 ships. From this point of view, there are also many military fans who think that the introduction of the Afghan side is not realistic, after all, the military budget of the Arab side in 2022 is only 9 billion US troops, which is completely unable to complete the capital requirements for the introduction of 6 052D, and the per capita income of the Arab side itself is only more than 3,000 US dollars, and from all aspects, its strength is not enough to introduce large destroyers.
However, from another point of view, the Albanian side is also a traditional domestic military trade user, and the domestic equipment that has been introduced includes the Type 81 assault rifle, the Type 89 armored vehicle, the PLZ-45 self-propelled howitzer, the Rainbow 4 UAV and so on. Surface equipment also includes C28A corvettes, T50A integrated training ships, etc. And China has also helped the Arab side to transform shipyards to meet the maintenance and construction of new ships. That is to say, in addition to the economic level and military budget, the possibility of the introduction of 052D by the Afghan side is still very large.
In particular, according to reports in November 2022, Algeria's National Assembly passed a finance bill that expects the defense budget to increase significantly, or $22 billion, in 2023 due to tensions with neighboring Morocco. If its budget reaches $22 billion, then the introduction of 6 billion 052Ds is quite possible. Of course, there is another saying that this may be 2 052D plus 2 054A foreign trade version, the specific details are still under discussion.
In fact, in peacetime, the Arab side is unlikely to introduce large surface ships, about C28A corvettes, but with the tension with Morocco, its demand for weapons and equipment is increasing, such as the introduction of rainbow drones on both sides, there has been a clear arms race atmosphere. And judging from its significant increase in military spending, almost doubling from 9 billion to 22 billion, it would not be surprising if it was ready to introduce 052DE, which exceeded its own level of national strength and budget.
The dispute between Algeria and Morocco is mainly concentrated in Western Sahara, and the essence of the competition for the region is actually a competition for the supremacy of West Africa. At present, Morocco has 200,000 ground troops with rich experience in desert operations, while Afghanistan is weaker in comparison, but there is a large coastline including the two sides of the Ammo and Western Sahara, so it is entirely possible for Algeria to try to improve its naval power, or even spend a lot of money. Therefore, there is still a certain opportunity for 052DE's large order, but the specific number and model are difficult to say, even excluding the introduction of 052D by the Arab side, Morocco also came to a few.