Naval weaponry of the People's Liberation Army Navy

Weapon systems of the naval branch of the People's Liberation Army of China
The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is the naval branch of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the armed forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLAN force consists of approximately 250,000 men and over a hundred major combat vessels, organized into three fleets: the North Sea Fleet, the East Sea Fleet, and the South Sea Fleet. Most of the naval weapon systems used by the PLAN were developed prior to 1990. The naval weaponry of the PLAN is based on three tiers: artillery, torpedoes, and missiles, each geared to a specific threat range and type.

Throughout its early history from 1949 to the early 1980s, the PLAN had principally relied upon artillery and torpedoes as its main weapons. This resulted in the development of many types and calibers of anti aircraft and anti ship guns. Torpedoes were secondary weapons, playing an important role in PLAN's coastal defense doctrines. Many destroyers, frigates and torpedo craft all carry an array of anti ship torpedoes to this day. The adoption of the missile, like in most navies, has completely revolutionized Chinese naval capabilities and tactics. Also, there has been growing attention given to ASW, electronic, and airborne weaponry. The Cultural Revolution was a major disruption to many weapons development programs of the PLAN. Advanced weaponry concepts were always in the minds of PLAN thinkers since the 1950s, even if they were unable to be implemented at the time. Therefore, a lot of modern weapon systems such as SAMs, modernized torpedoes and missile/sensor systems were not introduced into service until the early 1980s. Furthermore, economic and technical sophistication to produce the fire control, targeting systems, and tracking capabilities were not in place until the mid 1980s.

In the PLAN, artillery takes the form of anti ship guns and anti aircraft guns. Anti ship guns are typically found on destroyers and cruisers, with smaller versions on frigates. Smaller ships utilize torpedoes for anti ship weaponry. The increasing use of missiles means less attention is paid to pure anti ship weapons. The PLAN never possessed battleships or battlecruisers, and the use of a ship's main guns is mostly in standoff capacity, as they have never engaged in close shore support from cruisers or destroyers. Anti aircraft guns vary in size and power from swivel mount 25 mm machine guns to advanced Close In Weapon Systems (CIWS) and radar assisted 57 mm rapid fire anti aircraft weapons. Almost all classes of PLAN vessels maintain at least some anti aircraft capability. Most destroyers and cruisers augment this with surface to air missiles.

Mine warfare has also been another traditional component of PLAN weaponry. Mines remain to be seen as a very useful power amplifying tool by the PLAN. Strategic minefields could be laid around the Taiwan Strait to deny access or delay deployment of US Navy forces, particularly aircraft carrier battle groups and submarines. Chinese mines have continually been addressed by many analysts and scholars as a very dangerous weapon that could be employed against the US Navy. Most PLAN destroyers, frigates, littoral craft and submarines can lay mines. Chinese mines vary in type, from basic contact/magnetic mines to more modern and complex systems. Several models of the YJ8 have since emerged. The YJ82 was significantly a better missile with a greatly improved range of 120 km and far more advanced ECM. The latest variant is the YJ 83, with a range exceeding 250 km, and capable of making its final approach at Mach 1.5 to penetrate ship defenses. In addition, a variant revealed at 2006 Zhuhai Airshow designated as C 802KD/YJ 82KD has ground attack capabilities similar to the AGM 84 SLAM. All YJ8 models can be launched from a common boxed launcher. Most littoral combatants carry four to six missiles, while larger surface ships can carry eight. PLAN destroyers have mounted sixteen missiles. Though the YJ8 series does not have the advance 'pop up' approach or checkpoint flight characteristics of the Harpoon, it is respected as one of the most potent anti ship missiles ever developed. The YJ83's performance in some areas is superior to even the latest variants of Harpoon and Exocet, though its ECM and agility is thought to be slightly inferior.

The PLAN inventory includes a mixture of foreign and domestic missiles, and Russia was the largest foreign provider.

Supersonic anti ship missiles have been a key development in China. The Russian ramjet SS N 22 Sunburn is operated by China on board its Sovremenny class destroyers. Its high velocity supersonic approach and its large warhead make the SS N 22 a valuable weapon for the PLAN. China has long sought to produce its own supersonic and eventually hypersonic anti ship system since the 1980s. High speed missiles are seen as the most effective means of attacking modern warships. Only Russia, China, and India (BrahMos, which was co developed with Russia) have so far successfully developed and deployed such weapons. Earlier Chinese missiles of such capability from before the 1990s include the C 301 (also known as HY 3). With its four ramjet engines, it has a range of 130 km and a speed greater than Mach 2.5. Though a success, the missile is far from being as potent as the SS N 22, mainly because it can fly only at a higher cruise altitude of 50 m, rather than cruising at wave tops (such as the 20 m cruise altitude of SS N 22), so it is easier to intercept in comparison to SS N 22. the PLAN's air force has also purchased both the KH31 ramjet supersonic missile and the AS 20 turbojet subsonic anti ship missile from Russia to arm its fighters. Apart from ramjet technology, China has successfully developed some supersonic anti ship missiles that can fly above Mach 1.0 (as most anti ship missiles currently fly at Mach 0.9). The C 101, also known as FL 2 features a smaller and thinner body of the original SS N 2 Styx, but it can fly at speeds around Mach 1.7. It can attack targets at 40 km. However, like the much larger C 301, its cruise altitude is also at 50 m and thus prone to interception in comparison to faster SS N 22 with lower cruise altitude. As a result, both C 101 and C 301 saw very little service. The YJ83 also possesses some supersonic attack capabilities. More modern missiles today are the YJ 12 and YJ 91 (KH 31), the most advanced supersonic missiles China has in service. They entered service around 1999 and have a range of 400 km at a speed of Mach 2.5 and can be launched from both ship and air. They can even attack land.

China's navy had long lacked an air defense missile system, hence why it has been a major area of weakness. China's SAM development had been seriously jeopardized by the Cultural Revolution, and the break away from the Soviet Union meant that no Soviet assistance in air defense missiles was given. The first naval SAM system was not developed until the late 1960s. This was in the form of the HQ 61 SAM, originally a short range land based system. The first PLAN ship to be armed with SAM was the Type 053K frigate Jiangdong, launched in 1970. However it took many years for the design to mature and the obsolete system was never ideal for naval operations. The Jiangdong had two twin launchers of the HQ61 SAM. The missile was capable of engaging enemy air targets out to 10 km. The HQ 61 was applied to only a limited degree. The Jiangwei I class of four units, were armed with a six tube launcher. The weakness, however, was lack of automatic reload systems, so the crew had to manually reload. When China opened up in the late 1970s, it had greater access to Westernized technologies. One vital asset imported was the French Crotale short ranged SAM. Two systems were initially imported and mounted aboard two Luda class destroyers. The design was subsequently indigenized into the HQ 7. The improved Luda, Luhu, Luhai, Jiangwei II, and 054 class warships. The launcher is an eight celled system, with a reload hatch, which has additional missiles below deck. Its engagement range is 10–12 km and is claimed to be capable of engaging low flying missiles and aircraft. Although the HQ 7 was a significant step towards PLAN air defense capabilities, the PLAN still fell short of possessing a medium to long range missile system that could provide true fleet defense coverage. The purchase of Russian Sovremenny class destroyers meant China obtained the medium range SA N 7 SAM and its subsequent improved models. This missile was far more advanced than any Chinese indigenous design. The missile was soon adapted for service on board the PLAN's 052B class destroyer. China sought to import the Russian SA N 6 long range SAM system. This was based on the land based S 300 missile, which China had already been operating. The SA N 6 is a vertical launched system (VLS) with a range of 100 km and performance similar to the US Patriot. Two such systems were negotiated for and not ready for installation until late 2005 (on board the new 051C destroyers). Meanwhile, China had developed the HQ 9 system, believed to have partially borrowed some of the features on both Russian S 300 and US Patriot technology (fire control). This was China's first indigenous long range high performance air defense missile. This was installed on the 052C class warships. With VLS missiles finally in service with the PLAN, there has been high optimism to see a short range VLS weapon that could replace the HQ 7. Contenders for the future short range SAM of the PLAN include a vertical launched variant of the HQ 7, Russian TOR M1, Russian SA N 12, VLS variant of the Chinese LY60N or HQ 61, or a completely new design. A single Jianghu I (hull 516) was modified very recently. It has its anti ship missiles replaced with several multiple rocket launchers. The rockets are of 122 mm caliber, and are based on the Type 89 system, which is itself quite similar to the Soviet BM 21 rocket system. The 122 mm rockets are launched from a stabilized launcher, meaning that even if the ship is affected by wave motion, the launcher itself will be stabilized. The rockets have a range of up to 40 km, and can achieve reasonable accuracy in fire. This installation may be seen as an experiment by the PLAN to make use of older warship designs, by turning them into shore bombardment platforms. Though only one ship is being tested for now, this is a very possible concept for future PLAN conversions of their large number of old Luda's and Jianghu's. Fire support from ships is seen as very important by the PLAN when conducting amphibious operations.

For radars deployed by PLAN, please refer to Chinese naval radars.

The current quality and capability of PLAN weaponry has improved significantly, closing the gaps between PLAN obsolescence and Western standards. Future PLAN weapon systems could include land attack cruise missiles, stealthy hypersonic missiles, armed ship launched UAVs, anti radiation missiles, and land based anti ship ballistic missiles, EMP bombs, long range artillery systems, super speed torpedoes and improved mines.