#头条创作挑战赛#
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[Preface]
A few decades ago, China's naval power was not outstanding in the world, but in just a few decades, China's navy has impressed the world.
And in those quiet days, we spent $2.2 billion to buy four Modern-class destroyers from Russia.
At that time, such a deal did allow the mainland to have advanced equipment to support maritime forces, but now that various warships are emerging one after another, the status of these warships is a little awkward.
Why did we buy Modern-class destroyers from Russia in the first place? What is the situation of these warships today? And what should be done?
For the first time, there is a modern regional air defense system
The Hyundai-class destroyers were built by the entire Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, and these Hyundai-class destroyers were built to compete with the United States.
At that time, the Hyundai-class destroyers were high-performance surface combat ships and belonged to the third generation of destroyers.
From design and construction to completion and launching, the former Soviet Union took only eight years, and two years later, the Hyundai-class destroyers entered service.
After that, the main task of Hyundai-class destroyers in the Soviet Union was to escort formations, and at sea they also needed to attack enemy aircraft carriers and various large and medium-sized surface ships.
During the years of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, both sides built a lot of equipment that was ahead of the times, after all, neither side was willing to be crushed.
And a few years after the Hyundai-class destroyers were put into service, there was international news that China was going to buy Hyundai-class destroyers.
Around the nineties of the last century, the number of Chinese naval vessels ranked third in the world, and in terms of quantity, the strength of the Chinese navy at that time should have been very good.
However, although the number of our warships is quite large, the performance is not satisfactory; not only is there a big gap between us and the warships of the United States and Russia, but even some neighboring countries and regions, although the number of warships is not as large as ours, their performance is stronger than ours.
At that time, our warships could not even compete with the ordinary ships of other neighboring countries, and in this case, we were too passive at sea.
At that time, our first-generation ship design was just in its early stages, and there was no critical breakthrough in the design and construction capabilities of ships.
In this case, there is only one way to increase the strength of the navy in a short period of time, and that is to buy ships from other countries.
At this time, the Soviet Union collapsed, and Russia inherited most of the military industry and equipment, while Russia has experienced turmoil and is suffering from "shock therapy", in order to ease the economy as soon as possible, it can only sell equipment.
One was in dire need of equipment, the other was eager to sell equipment for foreign exchange, and the two sides hit it off and began to contact about the warship deal.
After a thorough understanding and comparison, we finally selected the Russian Hyundai-class destroyer and began to discuss with the other side the possibility of purchasing and introducing it.
After that, some things happened that made the relevant responsible persons of our side contact with the Russian side more frequently, and even visited and negotiated with the other side day and night.
Soon after, the two sides finally reached an agreement to sign an $800 million contract for the purchase of two modern-class warships from Russia, as well as some related weapons systems.
These two Hyundai-class destroyers, originally called "Yekaterinburg" and "Alexander Nevsky", were renamed Hangzhou and Fuzhou after arriving in China, and successively joined the East China Sea Fleet.
After that, we spent $1.4 billion on two improved destroyers, still in the Modern class, which were later renamed Taizhou and Ningbo, and went to serve in the East China Sea Fleet.
At that time, these four modern-class destroyers were also considered technologically advanced, and these ships allowed the Chinese Navy to have a modern regional air defense system for the first time.
However, with the development of the times, we not only have a large number of ships designed and built independently, but also have more advanced performance, and the Hyundai-class destroyers purchased before are a bit of a chicken rib.
The development is too fast, and it is like chicken ribs
We have to admit that our navy has been weak for a long time before the purchase of ships, and although it has a certain number of ships, it is almost useless because of its poor performance.
It is obviously impossible to purchase the most advanced warships from European and American countries, so the two warship trades with Russia have indeed solved our urgent needs.
In particular, the first purchase of two modern-class destroyers, which are now Hangzhou and Fuzhou, has increased the level of air defense and modernization of our army.
These two 8,000-ton destroyers are not only equipped with coordinate radars, medium-range anti-aircraft missiles, but even anti-ship missiles, which is really nothing to say in terms of performance.
And for the first time, two Hyundai-class destroyers were purchased, with related weapons systems, including carrier-based helicopters, at a cost of $800 million.
The second warship contract, although it was also a Hyundai-class destroyer, was an improved model, so the contract amount became $1.4 billion.
Originally, I thought that the upgraded version would be more powerful, but I didn't expect that the last two would not be the first two.
Because the first two were self-built versions of the Soviet Union itself, built at a time when the Soviet Union was still dissolved and was fighting against the United States.
At that time, the Soviet Union not only lacked instruments, technology, or various parts and components in the construction of ships, but also basically used the best.
Moreover, for all types of ships, the Soviet Union's construction requirements are very strict, and the performance of the ships built in this situation is naturally not faulty.
But the upgraded version is different, when this batch of ships was built, it was already the beginning of the 21st century, when the Soviet Union had long ceased to exist, and all kinds of parts and equipment before it had been discontinued.
In the case of incomplete allocation of equipment and parts, it can only be relegated to the second, and it is conceivable that the quality of the ships built in this way is not comparable with the previous batch at all.
These two batches of four modern-class destroyers of different qualities have largely supplemented the strength of the Chinese Navy, but only a dozen years have passed, and the situation of these destroyers has been very embarrassing.
The Chinese Navy has long been different from what it used to be, and in the face of the endless stream of new ships, these modern-class destroyers are relatively backward.
After all, it was a product of several decades ago, and these technologies may have been very advanced at the time, but the years that followed were a period of rapid development of China's naval equipment.
The first two Type 956E and the last two Type 956EM destroyers sold to China were roughly the same, but there were some differences in some details.
The first two Hyundai-class warships were equipped with near- and medium-range supersonic anti-ship missiles, the Musket-E missiles, with a maximum range of 120 km.
On the latest Type 956EM warships, the improved Musket-MBE missile has a range of 240 km.
The first two Type 956E warships were equipped with "Shikili" missiles, and the "Shikili" was equipped with a 24-missile magazine in the front and rear and a single-arm inclined rapid launcher.
There are a total of 6 irradiation radars on the ship, forming 6 fire channels. Thus, the system can independently intercept 6 air targets at the same time. The new ship 956EM is equipped with Shikili-1 missiles, which can deal with 2-12 air targets at the same time, and its air defense effectiveness has also been nearly doubled.
Such data was very capable more than 20 years ago, or even more than ten years ago, but now it is different, even if you are reluctant, you have to admit that the hero is in the twilight.
Heroes end the curtain and respect history
Today, there is only one maritime military force in the world that can keep China on standby, and to deal with this opponent, the Modern-class destroyers are no longer enough.
Whether the ship can continue to play a role depends not only on the original construction technology, but also on whether it can be effectively transformed as it ages.
The Hyundai-class destroyers were, after all, a Soviet product, and although later upgraded models came from Russia, most of the technology and parts remained the same.
The layout of the Hyundai-class destroyer is also very traditional Soviet style, the Soviet Union is like a master of space utilization, almost all of the space is occupied by various weapons, radars and equipment.
In such a situation, it is very difficult to carry out an effective renovation, and the renovation is not a reconstruction, so it is difficult to say how much of a contribution it will be even if it is completed in a time-consuming and laborious manner.
The era of the Hyundai-class destroyers, which gave the Chinese Navy a modern air defense system for the first time, has come to an end.
But one thing that will never go away is that the purpose of these destroyers is not just to strengthen our naval forces.
There are many opinions that the equipment that we once spent a lot of money on, whether it is weapons or ships, is now not worth the price.
Take these four modern-class destroyers, which cost a total of $2.2 billion to buy these four ships in two installments.
At such a price, buying a few Russian-style ships, and the kind of destroyers that are not very advanced, no matter how you look at it, we are at a loss.
Some people even think that it is better to sell this kind of ship to other countries as soon as possible while it has not been completely eliminated now, and it does not matter whether it makes money or not, and it is also good to give personal favors.
But this is all from the current point of view, China's naval equipment has only developed and grown in recent decades, and the introduction of these warships at that time also had a different significance.
These warships provide a platform for the mainland's naval training and practice, and have a very positive significance for military training.
The mainland's military industry team can also learn from these ready-made ships to provide ideas for the development of the mainland's own ships and better solve technical problems.
end
Whether it is technology, equipment or people, it has always been the back wave of the Yangtze River pushing the front wave, and the update and iteration between the old and new equipment is also the inevitable result of the march of history.
Today's China does have various types of ships with performance far superior to these modern-class destroyers, but this cannot erase their former role, and they are all part of the continuous progress of the mainland navy when they come to serve in China.
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END
Resources
On October 13, 2014, People's Daily Online reported on "The Top Ten Weapons of China's Russian Arms Trade Public: The Eyes of China's Aircraft Carriers Appeared".
On February 2, 2023, China.com Military published "Why Does the Chinese Navy Introduce "Modern"-class Destroyers? ".
Youth refers to a report on April 25, 2012, "The Beginning and End of the Introduction of Russian-made Destroyers by the Chinese Navy".