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China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations hold their first joint naval exercises this week. Beijing hopes to strengthen its regional military ties to counter the growing rivalry between the United States and the South China Sea.
The maritime exercise between China and Asia began on Monday in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province (south), in southern China, and will include personnel from the eleven nations.
Six of them – China, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines – also sent warships to participate in the exercises:
China
Guangzhou
The multi-missile destroyer Guangzhou has a displacement of 6,000 tons. Commissioned in 2004, it incorporates a hull and superstructure designed to reduce the radar profile of the ship. It was the first destroyer of the Chinese series Type 052B, designed for air defense.
Its anti-aircraft capabilities include the Russian short-range Russian SA-N-12 air-to-surface missile (20 nautical miles) and a rotating 3D radar for primary search radar. To protect itself from submarines, it is equipped with two triple-tube torpedo launchers and short-range rockets (1,000 meters). The ship also has a helicopter bridge. However, according to China's "Evolutionary Surface Fleet," a report released last year by the US Naval War College, "the combat capabilities of the war in Guangzhou were overwhelmed the day it was commissioned."
Huangshan
China has also deployed Huangshan, one of its largest and most modern multi-mission frigates. The 054A frigate is of type 054 (identified by NATO as the Jiangkai-II class). It has a length of 134 meters and a width of 16 meters, a displacement of 4,000 tons and a maximum speed of 27 knots.
The stealth frigate was built locally and has been in service since March 2008.
China has already offered to sell three 054A-type frigates to Thailand in 2013, but lost to South Korea, which offered its modified Gwanggaeto the Great-Class destroyers.
In 2015, the cost of constructing and equipping a Type 054A vessel was estimated at US $ 348 million per vessel, based on an analysis conducted in March The diplomat by Gabe Collins, researcher at the Maritime Studies Institute of US Naval War College.
Junshanhu
The Type 961 Junshanhu refueling ship joined the Chinese Navy in July 2015. According to the Shanghai-based online newspaper Thepaper.cn, it has a displacement of more than 10,000 tons and a speed of 22 knots. It has been identified as a complete supply ship. It has five supply stations, but it lacks a helicopter bridge.
Singapore
Singapore has sent its RSS Stalwart – equipped with anti-aircraft, anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
Designed by the French naval builder DCN, it is a modernized version of the frigate La Fayette of the French Navy.
The Singapore contract with DCN included a technology transfer program: the first frigate was built in France, and the next five, including the Stalwart, were built locally in Singapore.
With a displacement of 3,200 tons, the frigate is armed with a main gun – Canon Oto Melara 76mm / 62 Super Rapid – which fires shells of 13 lbs (6 kg) up to 16 km at a rate firing up to 120 rounds. one minute. The vehicle's Harpoon surface-to-surface anti-ship missile also has a range of 130 km and uses active radar guidance.
In missile mode, the Aster 15 has a range of 15 km. Aster also provides protection against aircraft with or without a pilot up to 30 km, depending on Indian Defense Review.
Brunei
Daruttaqwa OPV-09 – Brunei's most modern armed ship – is a deep-sea patrol boat, the fourth Darussalam-class ship to join the relatively small navy of the Royal Brunei Navy. The four ships of the Darussalam class were built in Germany by Lurssen Werft in Bremen-Vegesack.
The OPV-09 was commissioned in August 2014.
From a length of 80 meters and a width of 13 meters, it has a displacement of 1,625 tons. It also features two Oerlikon 20mm (0.8 inch) guns while carrying four Exocet MM40 Block 3 anti-ship missiles.
Thailand
The HTMS Taksin Frigate (FFG 422) is a product of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation in Shanghai.
After an upgrade in 2016, he now has a displacement of 2,980 tons and is armed with a turret of 127 mm. Other equipment includes a Mark 41 vertical launch system that offers a quick launch capability against hostile threats.
The frigate has just completed a co-operative deployment in the East China Sea with USS Antietam missile cruiser (CG 54) and HTMS Krabi ships of the Royal Thai Navy (OPV 551) earlier this month.
Vietnam
The 015 Tran Hung Dao, a Gepard 3.9 class frigate, is one of the most advanced warships of the Vietnamese Navy and was launched in February. He was named after General Tran Hung Dao, revered in Vietnamese history for his role in the victory over the Mongol invaders in the 13th century.
Built in Russia, the frigate has a displacement of 2,100 tons and a length of 102 meters. It is equipped with four 533mm torpedo tubes and two SS-N-25 anti-submarine rocket launchers.
Prior to this exercise, the warship had also landed in Japan and South Korea as part of a 9,300km journey starting last month. The crossing was the longest Vietnamese naval enterprise.
The Philippines
The BRP Dagupan City Logistics Support Vessel (LC-551) was commissioned in the 1990s and built in the United States. It is 83 meters long and has a displacement of 4,265 tons at full load, a draft of 3.7 meters and a top speed of 12 knots.
Commander Jonathan Zata, a spokesman for the Philippine Navy, told the Philippine news agency that the ship was "well adapted and well tested" to meet the needs of this exercise in terms of humanitarian assistance. and disaster relief.
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