Hello everyone. Today we're doing a comparison video between the Type 055 destroyer and the
Kirov battlecruiser, or in the original Russian designation a nuclear-powered heavy cruiser.
Both are big ships, especially the Kirov, and both are magnificent capital ships in their respective
navies, the Russian Navy and the Chinese PLAN. The Type 055 is China's latest, most advanced
air warfare destroyer, while the Kirov is still widely recognized as one of the most powerful
surface combatants in the world, despite her age. So, let's get into it. So a bit of background on
the two ships. The Type 055 destroyer represents the culmination of a 20-year incremental evolution
in Chinese destroyer designs, from very small and relatively simple warships with limited combat
capability to massive arsenal ship capable of sophisticated Aegis air defense capabilities.
The Type 055 is a large destroyer, displacing approximately 13,000 tons. It has been classified
by the United States Navy as a cruiser instead of a destroyer. The first unit of the Type 055
was launched in 2017 and commissioned in 2020. A total of eight ships have been launched so far,
and most of them have been commissioned. Its main function is to operate as a main air defense
command and control center for Chinese carrier battle groups. The Type 055 is primarily an air
warfare destroyer, providing an AEGIS-like air defense umbrella for Chinese naval taskforces,
but nevertheless it still possesses formidable anti-surface, anti-ship,
and anti-submarine firepower. The Kirov battlecruiser is a nuclear-powered heavy
cruiser according to the Russian designation. It is possibly the most iconic warship of the
Cold War. It has a full displacement of 28,000 tons, making it approximately the same size as
a dreadnought battleship of the First World War. In a way, the Kirov symbolizes the Soviet drive
to build a blue-water navy, to compete with the United States for command of the sea. The class
was first commissioned in 1980. A total of four ships were completed, but only two units remain in
service with the Russian Navy. They are the Peter the Great and the Admiral Nakhimov. Currently,
the Admiral Nakhimov is undergoing modernization and is expected to be outfitted with substantially
more powerful anti-ship and anti-surface weapons, and may even be equipped with substantially more
capable air defense capabilities. The Kirov battlecruiser was originally designed as a
large anti-submarine warship designed to engage the nuclear ballistic missile submarines of the
U.S Navy in the late Cold War, but the Soviet designers quickly realized that they can put
much more than just anti-submarine missiles on such a large warship. The main mission of
the new Soviet dreadnought quickly became to sink the aircraft carriers of the U.S Navy,
using their powerful Granit supersonic anti-ship missiles. Let's compare their respective anti-ship
capabilities. So, how strong are their offensive firepower against enemy warships? The Type 055 is
armed with the YJ-18 two-stage anti-ship cruise missile. The YJ-18 features a subsonic cruising
speed and a supersonic terminal phase. It combines the stealth and the range of a subsonic missile
with the penetration and the hitting power of a supersonic missile in the terminal phase. That
said, the YJ-18 has a fairly small warhead. The Type 055 is also armed with the YJ-21 anti-ship
ballistic missile. The YJ-21 is the world's first and currently the world's only ship-borne
anti-ship ballistic missile. It provides another dimension of threat the enemy warship has to
deal with, and they can only do so with fairly specialized anti-ballistic missile defense system.
The Kirov battlecruiser, the Peter the Great, is armed with 20 P-700 Granit supersonic anti-ship
missiles. They were first introduced in 1983. The battlecruiser's S-300FM air defense system also
has a little-known surface-to-surface anti-ship capability as a secondary function. That said,
the warheads on the S-300 are designed to engage aircraft primarily, so they are far smaller
than proper anti-ship missiles. Moreover, the engagement range is far more limited than proper
anti-ship projectiles. So, in my view the use of the S-300 in an anti-ship role is not really that
much of a factor. The Kirov's Granit missile has a conventional warhead of 750 kilograms, more than
twice that of the YJ-18. However, while the Granit obviously packs a bigger punch, it is far less
stealthy than the YJ-18. The Granit's guidance system, being from the 1980s, is fairly old. It
cannot be controlled after launch. When fired in a salvo, the missiles share targeting information
while in flight. One Granit missile becomes the leader and will maintain a high altitude, to
facilitate target acquisition. The other missiles follow the leader at a lower altitude and use the
information passed down from the leader to lock onto their targets. This means the lead Granit
missile is inherently non-stealthy, because it has to fly at a high altitude. This will provide
fairly advanced warning for the target warship. While any hit from a Granit will obviously be
devastating, the YJ-18 should have much better sea skimming qualities and has a much better chance of
penetrating modern fleet air defenses. This is to say nothing of the YJ-21 anti-ship ballistic
missile, which will provide another dimension of threat that the target has to deal with. So,
in my opinion, in the modern oceanic battlefield the Type 055 represents a more lethal anti-ship
platform, although the Kirov remains dangerous and can do tremendous damage on an unsuspecting enemy.
As I said at the start of the video, the Admiral Nakhimov, the sister ship of the Peter the Great,
is undergoing modernization. It will be getting 80 3S14 VLS cells for advanced anti-surface and
anti-ship missiles. These VLS will be able to fire the Kalibr and the P-800 Oniks anti-ship
cruise missiles. These are far more capable than the P-700 Granit currently on the Peter
the Great. In my view, the Kalibr and the Oniks are roughly comparable to the YJ-18. But the
Admiral Nakhimov will be getting 80 of these weapons, while the Type 055 even though it has
112 VLS cells it is unlikely to carry more than say 40 anti-ship missiles inside its VLS on a
regular basis. Moreover, the Russian Department of Defense has stated that the Admiral Nakhimov
will be getting the Zircon hypersonic missile in the future. The Zircon is a stealthy hypersonic
cruise missile and is believed to be able to penetrate existing fleet air defense systems. So,
it would seem to me that after its modernization the Admiral Nakhimov will be even more dangerous
to enemy warships than even the mighty Type 055. By the way, if you enjoyed our video so far,
please press the 'like' button. Both warships are capable of area air defense, but when it
comes to assessing their air defense umbrella, the Type 055 is ahead by a large margin. In my view,
there are three main reasons for this. Number one: the Type 055's air defense
umbrella is built around a Type 346B air search radar. This is a dual C and S band AESA radar.
It is at least one generation ahead of the PESA radars used for air search and fire control for
the Kirov's S-300F air defense system. Secondly, the Type 055's long-range air defense missiles
has a vastly longer reach than the Kirov's S-300F. This means the Chinese warship can credibly deter
enemy aircrafts from carrying out their missions. For example, the opposing force's airborne early
warning systems. The S-300F on the Kirov, being much more limited in range, is only really
suitable for engaging close aerial targets and for intercepting incoming missiles. Number three:
the Type 055's HHQ-9B long-range surface-to-air missile has active radar homing. In contrast,
the Kirov's S-300 missile system still relies on semi-active radar homing. Active radar homing
is more precise and more accurate at longer ranges, and is more resistant to electronic
countermeasures. So, basically the Type 055's long-range SAMs have superior guidance. For all
of these reasons, I consider the Type 055 to be a much more capable fleet air defense warship.
Let's talk about the short-range point defense weapons briefly. The Type 055 has a single Type
1130 CIWS and a 24-cell HHQ-10 short-range surface-to-air missile system. While the
Type 1130 is a very capable CIWS, the destroyer only has one system, and it is placed in a way
that only covers the front of the ship. The aft is covered by the HHQ-10 missile launcher. The Kirov
has 6 Kashtan or Kortik gun-and-missile CIWS, and 64 3K95 (or the navalized Tor) SAM system.
While the Chinese close-range weapons are new, the Kirov appears to be more heavily armed in general
for point defense. The point defense weapons on the Russian battlecruiser also provide a better
coverage of all the different angles for possible attacks and incoming threats.
The Type 055 is obviously built with stealth considerations in mind. It has substantial
stealth capabilities against many different types of sensors. It features a smooth hull
and a highly compact superstructure, with very few deck-mounted weapons. And the ones that are there,
for example the 130 millimeter naval gun, all have a stealthy angular surface. The main radars
are integrated inside the superstructure at the center of the ship, so the overall
radar cross-section should be minimized. The four funnels are completely enclosed,
with inbuilt infra-red suppression devices. The noise of the engine are also lower than previous
Chinese gas turbines. So the Type 055 basically has all-round stealth capabilities against radars,
infra-red sensors, and passive sonars at least to an extent. In stark contrast, the Kirov
battlecruiser is not stealthy at all. In essence, it is a 1970s design where stealth is not a major
consideration in warships. The cruiser has a very cluttered topside, with many different radar domes
and even exposed radar antennas. So it will be detected by radar at a much longer range than the
Type 055. Arguably, this reduces survivability in the modern oceanic battlefield. That said,
the Kirov is nuclear-powered while the Type 055 is conventionally powered by gas turbines. This means
the Kirov in theory has unlimited range, or its range is only limited by the food requirement of
the crew, while the Type 055 has a limited range constrained by fuel requirements. However, this
does not appear to be an advantage that can be used effectively in a wartime situation. In such a
contingency, the Kirov will probably be forced to stay fairly close to port, while the Type 055 will
probably operate within the second island chain. You don't need nuclear power to do these things.
All told, the Kirov is simply getting too old. It was a mighty warship of its time in the late Cold
War, but its technology is becoming outdated. Its air defense system, the S-300F, is likely
not enough for high intensity situations in the modern oceanic battlefield. The Granit anti-ship
missiles are no longer as threatening as they once were, although they are still very dangerous to
unsuspecting enemies. The Admiral Nakhimov, once it finishes modernization, will move closer to the
Type 055's capability in many respects, especially in their surface-to-surface firepower. That said,
the Kirovs are basically irreplaceable, no matter how powerful and how much they are modernized. The
Russian Navy is almost certainly only going to have two of these ships going forward.