Type 054A

China's most-produced and most-deployed modern surface combatant — a 4,000-tonne multi-role frigate that anchors the People's Liberation Army Navy's escort, anti-piracy, and blue-water presence missions with a 32-cell vertical launch system and a global operational record stretching from the Gulf of Aden to the Western Pacific.

Overview

The Type 054A, designated Jiangkai II-class by Western navies, is a guided-missile frigate that forms the numerical backbone of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) surface fleet. First commissioned in 2008, the class has been built in serial production for nearly two decades, with over 40 hulls completed for the PLAN and for export to the Pakistan Navy. The ship combines a 32-cell vertical launch system (VLS) for area air defence and anti-submarine rockets with eight YJ-83 anti-ship missiles, a 76 mm main gun, and two close-in weapon systems, all in a hull displacing approximately 4,000–4,500 tonnes at full load. It is, by a wide margin, the PLAN's most frequently deployed large surface combatant, having sustained a continuous anti-piracy presence in the Gulf of Aden since 2009 while also participating in non-combatant evacuations, far-seas training, and carrier escort duties.

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