Will China strengthen its coastal anti-submarine warfare capabilities?

Of all the components of the American military arsenal, the US Navy submarine fleet is probably the most feared by Beijing and the naval forces of the People's Liberation Army. This is why, over the past ten years and the arrival of Xi Jinping at the head of the country, a particularly significant effort has been made to strengthen the means to counter this threat. This was first the case of Type 054A frigates responsible for escorting large naval units and in particular eliminating submarine threats against these ships. From 2013, they also appeared the first Type 056A corvettes. Evolution of the Type 056, 20 of which were delivered to the Chinese Navy between 2013 and 2016, the Type 056A also had the anti-ship and anti-aircraft self-protection systems and hull sonar of its predecessor, a towed sonar and a variable depth sonar, making this small vessel of only 90 meters and 1500 tonnes, a valuable tool for anti-submarine security of the Chinese continental shelf, particularly within the “first circle”. » of islands encircling the China Sea.

La 50th and last Type 056A corvette was delivered to the Chinese Navy in 2021, marking the announced end of this program. Yet a recent announcement from Chinese social networks suggests that production of this corvette, highly specialized in anti-submarine warfare, could soon resume. Indeed, according to this information, 20 of the 22 Type 056 corvettes, the very ones which initially only had limited ASW capabilities, would soon be transferred to the Chinese Coast Guard, which already operates several units previously in service within the Chinese Navy. , like the 3 Type 53H2G frigates of 2.250 tonnes. But these were most often relatively old and obsolete ships for military missions, and not corvettes having sailed for only 6 to 12 years, and supposed to have an operational lifespan of 25 to 30 years.

This transfer will most likely allow the Chinese Navy to relaunch the production of new corvettes equipped with advanced anti-submarine capabilities, in order to give the Chinese Navy a homogeneous coastal defense capability across the entire naval perimeter to be secured. It may be thatlike the Type 054A frigates, the construction of a new section of which began a year ago after the initial objective of 30 ships was reached, Beijing was satisfied with a new series of 22 new Type 056A. But it is also possible that the Chinese Navy will take the opportunity to develop a new, more efficient variant of its corvette, which would notably have a hangar allowing it to accommodate a medium Z-9 anti-submarine warfare helicopter, or more probably one or more drones dedicated to this mission. It could also be that the Chinese naval industry will take the opportunity to integrate electric propulsion into the ship, which could give it increased discretion during ASW missions, especially since work in this area has already been carried out as part of the development of the Type 054B frigate which should soon take over in the production of Type 054A.

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