One of the most important components of the U.S Navy’s surface fleet is the Arleigh
Burke class destroyer.
The U.S navy has around 67 of these.
These destroyers are considered to be one of the best in the world and have operated
in waters far from American coasts, carrying out a wide range of maneuvers.
The Type 055 destroyer is a class of guided missile destroyers being constructed for the
Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force.
China plans to build 8 of these and the first one named ‘Nanchang' is currently in active
service.
The spec sheet of Type 055 is impressive and will certainly give a big boost to Chinese
naval capabilities.
Most analysts consider the Type0 55 to be a worthy competitor to any surface combatant
operating in the world including the Arleigh Burke class warship.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes which is a more potent destroyer - American Arleigh
Burke-class or Chinese Type 055?
Let’s get started.
Arleigh Burke class destroyers have an overall length of 509 feet (155 m) and displacement
of about 9,200 tons.
Warships of this class are powered by 4 × General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines producing
100,000 hp (75 MW) that drive 2 shafts.
They have a speed of 30+ knots (55+ km/h) and a range of 4,400 nmi (8,100 km)
Type 055 warships have an overall length of 590 feet (180 m) and have a displacement of
about 13,000 tons when fully loaded.
Warships of this class are powered by 6 × QC-280 gas turbines producing 150,000 hp ( 112 MW)
They have a speed of 30+ knots (55+ km/h) and a range of 5,000 nmi (9,300 km)
Because of its size, many analysts consider the Type 055 to be a cruiser.
Type 055 biggest asset is the massive VLS ( Vertical Launch System) array.
It is configured with a 112 cell VLS.
This is higher than Arleigh Burke-class which has a 96 cell VLS and is only surpassed by
South Korea’s new Sejong the Great-class destroyers, which have 128 VLS cells, and
Russian and American cruisers.
The VLS cells are important constituent since they are multirole and can be used to deploy
different types of weapons.
We will now look into 6 different aspects of the warships, rate them independently and
finally arrive at an overall score.
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Arleigh Burke class is currently dependent on outdated Harpoon Anti Ship missiles.
It also has 2 × Mk 141 Harpoon Missile Launcher for Anti Ship role.
Harpoon has a range of 70 to 150 miles depending on variant and has a subsonic speed of Mach 0.8.
China deploys the YJ-18 for Anti Ship duties.
Western analysts believe the YJ-18 is a copy of the Russian Kalibr 3M-54E.
It has a subsonic cruise mode during which it flies at Mach 0.8.
But it accelerates in the terminal phase of the flight and reaches a supersonic speed
of Mach 3.
The missile has a range of 290 nautical miles (330 mi; 540 km)
It is evident that Type 055 is better equipped when it comes to Anti Ship Warfare.
The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyer is the United States Navy's first
class of destroyers to be built from grounds up to incorporate the Aegis Combat System.
The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System is designed by the United States Department
of Defense, Missile Defense Agency to protect against short and intermediate-range ballistic
missiles.
Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense is devised to intercept ballistic missiles post-boost
phase and prior to reentry.
It enables Arleigh Burke class warships to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles by expanding
the Aegis Combat System with the addition of the AN/SPY-1 radar and Standard missiles.
Aegis BMD-equipped vessels can transmit their target detection information to other systems
and, if needed, engage potential threats using missiles like SM-2, SM-3
The official People Liberation Army Navy announcement indicates that Type 055 includes anti-missile
capability but it is mostly deemed to be designed to counter cruise missile.
The class has little to no ballistic missile defense capability.
Arleigh Burke class has RUM-139A VL-ASROC for anti submarine role.
It has a range of 13 miles or 22 km
Type 055 has Yu-8A anti-submarine missiles for this purpose.
It is similar in capabilities to the American counterpart.
There is not much to differentiate.
Arleigh Burke class carries two MH-60R LAMPS III helicopters whereas Type 55 can carry
two Changhe Z-18F helicopter.
MH-60R LAMPS III has been optimized over the years for the ASW role and its sensors are
better compared to Changhe Z-18F.
Arleigh Burke class has Mark 32 triple torpedo tubes.
These can launch Mk-46 or Mk-50 torpedoes.
A single hit from these torpedoes can cripple any ship.
It is not clear if Type 55 is armed with a dedicated torpedo launcher and the kind of
torpedoes it will deploy.
Arleigh Burke class is equipped with Enhanced Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) which can quad
packed in each Mk 41 VLS cell.
This allows ESSM equipped ships to have more shots per VLS cell.
It is a very well tested & dependable weapon.
ESSM has a range of 31 miles or 50 km and speed of Mach 4.
There are rumors that Type 55 warships will be equipped with DK-10 surface to air missile
which is touted to the similar to ESSM.
But its integration with the warship’s battle management system is not expected to be as
full fledged as with ESSM which is very important when it comes to Air Defense neither is as
well tested.
The maturity of ESSM gives the Arleigh Burke class an edge.
Arleigh Burke class is equipped with well known BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile for
land attack.
It has a long range of up to 1550 miles or 2500 km with subsonic speed.
Type 055 is equipped with CJ 10.
The CJ-10 is a second-generation Chinese ground-based land-attack missile.
It is derived from the Kh-55 missile.
It has a range of >1,500 km or 930 mi and has a subsonic speed.
Both the missile has a warhead of around 500 Kg or 1100 lbs.
So, Tomahawk has a distinctly better strike envelop.
Though the other aspects are similar, it is to be noted that Tomahawk has seen way more
combat operations and is expected to be much more effective in real-life scenarios.
Both the class of warship is equipped with several naval guns and Close in Weapon system.
Arleigh Burke class has a 5-inch naval gun , one 20 mm Phalanx CIWS as well as two 25
mm M242 Bushmaster
Type 055 is outfitted with H/PJ-38 130 mm dual-purpose naval gun and H/PJ-11 CIWS
There is not much to differentiate and it is to be noted that these armaments can be
upgraded in the future relatively easily.
So, it is a tie.
As clear from the overall score, the Arleigh Burke class is a step ahead of Type 055 when
it comes to overall capabilities.
But with Type 055, China has displayed the ability to built sophisticated warships that
are nearly at par with American counterparts.
It represents a significant improvement when it comes to Chinese shipbuilding.
It is interesting to note that in a one to one encounter, Type 055 will have an upper
hand because of its superior Anti Ship capability.
But naval battles are not fought like that and it is the overall capability of a warship
that enables a military to formulate a balanced battle strategy.
Chinese still need to work a lot on the armament of Type 055.
The U.S Navy has the experience of fighting naval wars since World War II and the maturity
of the armament on board the Arleigh Burke class warship is a testimony to that fact.
In a real-world scenario, the Arleigh Burke class warship will fare much better when compared
to Type 55 and the overall score represents this very fact.