# Type 054A frigate

The Type 054A (NATO/OSD Jiangkai II) is a class of guided-missile frigate from the People's Republic of China. It is a development of the Type 054 frigate; compared to its predecessor, the Type 054A has medium-range air defense capability in the form of Type 382 radar and vertically launched (VLS) HHQ-16 surface-to-air missiles.
The first ship (Xuzhou) of the new Type 054A was laid down in 2005 and entered service with the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in January 2008; the class was a key component of the PLAN's surface fleet by the late 2010s. Production was ongoing in 2023, with 30 ships in service by mid 2019, while the next batch of 10 ships commissioned from 2022 onwards, and a final batch of 10 ships under development, although this last batch may be built to the follow-on Type 054B (Jiangkai III) design.

## Design

The Type 054 was heavily influenced by the La Fayette-class frigate from France, and so reflected the strategic and operational requirements of that country. The development of the Type 054A may have been driven by China's need to address high-intensity armed conflict.
The Type 054A uses the same stealthy hull form as the Type 054. The forward launcher for HQ-7 short-range SAM is replaced with a 32-cell vertical launching system for medium-range HHQ-16 SAMs and Yu-8 antisubmarine rockets. The smaller main gun and Type 730 close-in weapon system (CIWS) are also installed.
The radar suite makes use of technology reverse engineered from Russian systems; the affected Chinese systems may include the H/LJQ-382 air search radar (from the Fregat MAE-3) and the H/LJQ-366 fire control radar (from the Mineral ME). The HHQ-16 target illuminators may also be derived from the Russian MR-90.
Ships starting with the 17th unit (Huanggang) were constructed with enhanced anti-submarine warfare capability - adding variable depth and towed array sonar - and the Type 1130 CIWS instead of the Type 730. These ships have been unofficially referred to as Type 054A+, Type 054A2, or modified Jiangkai II.
In 2015, Gabe Collins estimated that each ship cost US$348 million.

## Operational history

Type 054As have regularly deployed beyond China's regional waters.
Ships have participated in anti-piracy naval patrols off Somalia. The first was Huangshan, which deployed as part of China's second rotation in April 2019. From there, the ships have been detached to respond to regional crises. Frigates evacuated Chinese citizens from Libya in 2011 - making Xuzhou the first PLAN ship to enter the Mediterranean Sea - and Yemen in 2015. Another joined an international effort to secure Syria's chemical weapons in 2014.
Frigates also participated in the first Chinese naval exercises with the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean in 2015 and the Baltic Sea in 2017.

## Exports

In January 2013, it was confirmed that China offered three Type 054As to the Royal Thai Navy for US$1 billion. Ultimately, Thailand selected a derivative of the South Korean Gwanggaeto the Great-class destroyer from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
Pakistan ordered four Type 054A variants from Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in 2017-2018 as the Type 054A/P, or Tughril class. The first entered service on 8 November 2021, and all four were commissioned by mid 2022.

## Ships of class

| Pennant number | Name | Namesake | Builder | Launched | Commissioned | Fleet | Status |
| 530 | 徐州 / Xuzhou | City of Xuzhou | Huangpu Shipyard | 30 September 2006 | 27 January 2008 | East Sea Fleet | Active |
| 529 | 舟山 / Zhoushan | City of Zhoushan | Hudong-Zhonghua | 21 December 2006 | 3 January 2008 | East Sea Fleet | Active |
| 570 | 黄山 / Huangshan | City of Huangshan | Huangpu Shipyard | 18 March 2007 | 15 May 2008 | South Sea Fleet | Active |
| 568 | 衡阳 / Hengyang | City of Hengyang | Hudong-Zhonghua | 23 May 2007 | 30 June 2008 | South Sea Fleet | Active |
| 571 | 运城 / Yuncheng | City of Yuncheng | Huangpu Shipyard | 8 February 2009 | December 2009 | South Sea Fleet | Active |
| 569 | 玉林 / Yulin | City of Yulin, Guangxi | Hudong-Zhonghua | 28 April 2009 | 1 February 2010 | South Sea Fleet | Active |
| 548 | 益阳 / Yiyang | City of Yiyang | Huangpu Shipyard | 17 November 2009 | 26 October 2010 | East Sea Fleet | Active |
| 549 | 常州 / Changzhou | City of Changzhou | Hudong-Zhonghua | 18 May 2010 | 30 May 2011 | East Sea Fleet | Active |
| 538 | 烟台 / Yantai | City of Yantai | Huangpu Shipyard | August 2010 | June 2011 | North Sea Fleet | Active |
| 546 | 盐城 / Yancheng | City of Yancheng | Hudong-Zhonghua | 27 April 2011 | 5 June 2012 | North Sea Fleet | Active |
| 572 | 衡水 / Hengshui | City of Hengshui | Huangpu Shipyard | 2011 | 9 July 2012 | South Sea Fleet | Active |
| 573 | 柳州 / Liuzhou | City of Liuzhou | Hudong-Zhonghua | 10 December 2011 | 26 December 2012 | South Sea Fleet | Active |
| 547 | 临沂 / Linyi | City of Linyi | Huangpu Shipyard | December 2011 | 22 December 2012 | North Sea Fleet | Active |
| 575 | 岳阳 / Yueyang | City of Yueyang | Huangpu Shipyard | 19 May 2012 | 3 May 2013 | South Sea Fleet | Active |
| 550 | 潍坊 / Weifang | City of Weifang | Hudong-Zhonghua | 9 July 2012 | 22 June 2013 | North Sea Fleet | Active |
| 574 | 三亚 / Sanya | City of Sanya | Hudong-Zhonghua | 30 November 2012 | 13 December 2013 | South Sea Fleet | Active |
| Type 054A+ (stretched) ||||||||
| 577 | 黄冈 / Huanggang | City of Huanggang | Hudong-Zhonghua | 28 April 2013 | 16 January 2015 | East Sea Fleet | Active |
| 576 | 大庆 / Daqing | City of Daqing | Huangpu Shipyard | 8 October 2013 | 16 January 2015 | North Sea Fleet | Active |
| 578 | 扬州 / Yangzhou | City of Yangzhou | Hudong-Zhonghua | 30 September 2013 | 21 September 2015 | East Sea Fleet | Active |
| 579 | 邯郸 / Handan | City of Handan | Huangpu Shipyard | 26 July 2014 | 16 August 2015 | North Sea Fleet | Active |
| 532 | 荆州 / Jingzhou | City of Jingzhou | Hudong-Zhonghua | 22 January 2015 | 5 January 2016 | East Sea Fleet | Active |
| 531 | 湘潭 / Xiangtan | City of Xiangtan | Huangpu Shipyard | 19 March 2015 | 24 February 2016 | East Sea Fleet | Active |
| 515 | 滨州 / Binzhou | City of Binzhou | Hudong-Zhonghua | 13 December 2015 | 29 December 2016 | East Sea Fleet | Active |
| 536 | 许昌 / Xuchang | City of Xuchang | Huangpu Shipyard | 30 May 2016 | 23 June 2017 | South Sea Fleet | Active |
| 539 | 芜湖 / Wuhu | City of Wuhu | Hudong-Zhonghua | 8 June 2016 | 29 June 2017 | North Sea Fleet | Active |
| 598 | 日照 / Rizhao | City of Rizhao | Huangpu Shipyard | 1 April 2017 | 12 January 2018 | North Sea Fleet | Active |
| 599 | 安阳 / Anyang | City of Anyang | Hudong-Zhonghua | 28 March 2017 | 12 April 2018 | East Sea Fleet | Active |
| 500 | 咸宁 / Xianning | City of Xianning | Huangpu Shipyard | 22 September 2017 | 28 August 2018 | South Sea Fleet | Active |
| 601 | 南通 / Nantong | City of Nantong | Hudong-Zhonghua | 16 December 2017 | 23 January 2019 | East Sea Fleet | Active |
| 542 | 枣庄 / Zaozhuang | City of Zaozhuang | Huangpu Shipyard | 30 June 2018 | 22 February 2019 | North Sea Fleet | Active |
| 522 | 资阳 / Ziyang | City of Ziyang | Huangpu Shipyard | 12 July 2021 | May 2022 | East Sea Fleet | Active |
| 534 | 鹤壁 / Hebi | City of Hebi | Hudong-Zhonghua | 1 August 2021 | December 2022 | East Sea Fleet | Active |
| 540 | 西昌 / Xichang | City of Xichang | Huangpu Shipyard | November 2021 | 2023 | South Sea Fleet | Active |
| 537 | 宜兴 / Yixing | City of Yixing | Hudong-Zhonghua | 23 December 2021 | January 2023 | East Sea Fleet | Active |
| 551 | 巴彦淖尔市 / Bayannao'er | City of Bayannao'er | Huangpu Shipyard | 23 December 2021 | December 2022 | South Sea Fleet | Active |
| 516 | 淮北 / Huaibei | City of Huaibei | | | | East Sea Fleet | Active |

## Gallery

* Aft-deck of frigate Yiyang (548). In this image, US Navy sailors are boarding to meet prior to conducting a bilateral counter-piracy exercise. Visible on the flight deck is a Harbin Z-9 helicopter
* H/PJ-26 76mm main gun onboard Hengshui (572)
* The YJ-83 anti-ship missile launchers on the Wuhu (539)
* The Type 87 Anti Submarine Rocket (ASROC) Launchers of the Wuhu (539)
* Type 726-4 decoy launchers of Handan (579)
* Weapon control station of Chinese Navy Ship Hengshui (572)
* HQ-16 VLS SAM launchers on Xuzhou (530)
* The meeting room facility onboard Yulin (569)