Chinese destroyers may have Shtil air-defence syst

JANE'S DEFENCE WEEKLY - APRIL 30, 2003
Chinese destroyers may have Shtil air-defence system

Yihong Chang JDW Correspondent
Toronto
Additional reporting Richard Scott JDW Naval Editor
London

New photographs have revealed that the Chinese
People's Liberation Army Navy's (PLAN's) new Type 052B
guided-missile destroyers will be equipped with the
Russian-made Shtil-1 area air-defence missile system.

Two Type 052B vessels (168 and 169) were launched last
year from the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai. Both are
now fitting out at the yard. The Shtil-1 system,
developed by the Altair State Research and Production
Association, uses the 9M317 missile manufactured by
the Dolgoprudny Scientific Production Enterprise JSC.

Recent photographs of the two Type 052B ships show two
MR-90 Orekh fire-control radars installed, port and
starboard, above the bridge of ship 168. The MR-90
Orekh is associated with the Shtil-1, providing
semi-active illumination to the 9M317 missile. The
Shtil system is in service with the PLAN aboard two
Russian-built Project 956E Sovremenny-class destroyers
commissioned in December 1999 and January 2001. Each
Sovremenny has a single 3S90 launcher and six radars;
there is speculation that the Type 052B will also have
up to six MR-90 Orekh fire-control radars, although
photographs to date show just two illuminators fitted.


Photographs taken at the Shanghai yard also show the
first of a follow-on destroyer class structurally
complete on the slipway. Significantly, apertures
visible on the forward superstructure may show that
this vessel will be equipped with a new phased-array
radar system using four fixed-planar arrays in a
similar fashion to the US Navy's SPY-1D system
(associated with the Aegis air-defence system). Such a
developmental phased-array radar may have been tested
aboard the Dahua-class trials vessel 970. This vessel
is also believed to be the test platform for a
vertical-launch missile system