Compared with large integrated warships, escort warships have gone to another extreme.

Although it is more obvious to appropriately increase the displacement of warships in terms of efficiency and cost ratio, because it can simultaneously improve the main performance of warships such as airworthiness, endurance, and speed, thereby improving the escort combat capability and reducing the forces invested in escort combat, due to funding restrictions, the Chinese Navy has to strictly limit the displacement of escort warships to control construction costs.

The problem is that the navy has two completely different requirements for escort warships, or two types of high and low. [bsp;   Highly equipped escort warships mainly accompany aircraft carrier combat group activities, that is, provide anti-submarine cover for aircraft carriers. Therefore, the speed must reach the "Taishan" level, and it is best to exceed the "Taishan" level. Low-provisioned escort warships mainly escort the transport fleet, so there are no clear requirements for speed, as long as it is not lower than the fast transport ship, and most fast transport ships have speeds within thirty knots.

Two different requirements need to be considered for the use of two different power systems.

Now, the problem arises.

When designing a warship, the first thing to consider is the power system, that is, after the output power of the power system is determined, the displacement is determined based on indicators such as speed, and then the appropriate ship type is found, and finally various functional modules are set up on the hull. At some point, if there are clear requirements for the displacement, the designer must consider choosing the appropriate power system within the limited displacement.

If the Navy does not limit the displacement, the problem is not very big, and the problem can be solved by increasing the displacement.

Unfortunately, the Navy clearly limited the displacement, that is, the full load tonnage must not exceed 10,000 tons, and it is best to be controlled within 8,000 tons.

If the low-provisioned version is the basis, this is still great and there is no problem.

However, if the high-profile version is mainly used, the full load displacement of 10,000 tons is obviously not enough. The reason is very simple. If you want to have a continuous navigation speed of more than 40 knots, the most reasonable power system is a nuclear reactor, and the more suitable one is a controllable fusion nuclear reactor. The total mass of jh-44 is 3,000 tons, and a warship with advanced performance should account for less than 15%. If the jh-44 is installed for it, even if the cost issue is not considered, it will be difficult to meet other tactical indicators of the Navy in the remaining 7,000 tons.

Fortunately, the procurement scale of escort warships is definitely much larger than that of large comprehensive warships.

At the end of 2045, Mu Haoyang made it clear that an aircraft carrier battle group must have at least four anti-submarine warships, and each amphibious fleet must be equipped with three to four anti-submarine warships, and twenty to twenty to twenty four, forming four to six escort fleets.

According to this calculation, the total procurement scale of anti-submarine warships will reach more than 80 ships.

That is why the Navy commissioned the Southwest Nuclear Power Research Institute at the end of 2045, namely the Mianyang Nine Institute, to develop a controllable fusion nuclear reactor with an output power of about 300 megawatts on the basis of the jh-44, so as to reduce the overall mass to less than 1,500 tons.

This nuclear reactor was successfully developed in 2047 and was named jh-45.

After solving the problem of the power system, other things will be much easier to handle.

In the 2046 tender, the joint ventures established by three private shipyards won without any suspense and won the Navy's construction contract.

The main reason is that the cost of private shipbuilding yards is much lower than that of the four state-owned shipbuilding yards.

Like the "Taishan" class aircraft carrier and the "Heilongjiang" class large comprehensive warship, when the speed must exceed 45 knots, this anti-submarine warship named "Zhanjiang" class also adopts a trimaran type, thereby obtaining a flight deck with a total area of ​​more than 2,200 square meters!

It can be said that the most prominent feature of the "Zhanjiang" class is its outstanding aircraft carrier capability.

According to the design indicators, the "Zhanjiang" class can be equipped with six tilted rotary wing anti-submarine patrol aircraft. Later, by reinforcing the flight deck, it has the ability to carry vertical take-off and landing fighters, becoming the most capable battleship among many auxiliary warships of the Navy.

Such powerful carrier capability gives the "Zhanjiang" class extremely powerful anti-submarine combat capability.

With all six tilted rotary wing anti-submarine patrol aircraft deployed, they can patrol in three directions at the same time. Only four "Zhanjiang" class can cover a fleet of about fifty ships, or provide all-round anti-submarine cover for an aircraft carrier battle group.

In terms of anti-submarine combat capabilities alone, the "Zhanjiang" class is much stronger than any anti-submarine frigate in the past.

What is commendable is that the "Zhanjiang" class can obtain relatively complete combat capabilities by replacing the mission module and even perform ground strike tasks. When carrying air defense modules, they can cooperate with the "Heilongjiang" class operations, and when carrying the strike modules, they can replace the "Heilongjiang" class.

In fact, the Zhanjiang class is not a simple anti-submarine warship, but a veritable multi-purpose warship.

It is precisely because the "Zhanjiang" class has become China's major foreign trade warship after 2050 and has won the favor of more than a dozen countries.

Of course, this does not mean that there are no shortcomings in the "Zhanjiang" level.

The biggest problem is that the price is too high. Even though private shipyards have already offered very tempting conditions, the Navy still believes that it is necessary to reduce the purchase price step further. The result is that the "Zhanjiang" class is divided into two types according to the requirements of the Navy.

At that time, all the high-end versions of the aircraft carrier battle group were provided for the nuclear-powered model when equipped with anti-submarine mission modules. The purchase price was as high as 110 billion yuan; the low-end version was powered by two gas turbines with a total output power of 120 megawatts, and the maximum speed was reduced to 35 knots, and the power consumption systems such as terminal interception systems were cancelled. When configuring the anti-submarine mission modules, the purchase price was reduced to 74 billion yuan. Later, the Zhanjiang Shipyard also developed an electric model, that is, fuel cells and permanent magnet motors were used to replace gas turbines. However, this kind of warship was mainly for the overseas market, and the sale price was as high as 140 billion yuan, which was more expensive than the high-end version.

At the end of 2048, the Navy signed the first order with the Zhanjiang Shipyard, which was led, to purchase twelve "Zhanjiang" class ships and intend to purchase contracts with twelve ships.

From then on, the Navy purchased eight "Zhanjiang" class ships every year.

In the first three years, the Navy purchased all high-end versions, mainly used with the "Tarshan"-class aircraft carrier to form a brand new aircraft carrier battle group.

As for the low-end version, except for selling to friendly countries, the Navy did not place an official order until the year before the outbreak of World War III. The reason is simple. There is no need to escort the fleet during peacetime, and the frigates built before were enough. Only in the wartime, when all fleets need to escort for them, will the Navy be required to purchase more anti-submarine escort warships.

It can be said that the "Zhanjiang" class is a very excellent warship, which is also very advanced in design and more cost-effective.

Affected by this, the construction work of the "Zhanjiang" class continued until the end of World War III. Although it was divided into different batches and improved, the hull structure and main systems did not change much, and basically maintained versatility, becoming the main surface warship with the largest number of constructions, the widest use, the most frequently used, and the most active intensity in World War III.

By the time the last ship was completed, including the foreign trade type sold to friendly countries, the total construction volume of the Zhanjiang class exceeded 300. Even in the history of the world's naval, the number of construction of the Zhanjiang class was second only to the Fletcher class destroyers built by the US Navy during World War II.

In a sense, it was the "Zhanjiang" class that ensured that the Chinese Navy successfully defended its main routes in the early stages of World War III, allowing thousands of ships to sail freely without threat from enemy submarines.

In the late stage of the war, the multi-purpose performance of the "Zhanjiang" level was fully utilized.

At that time, two-thirds of the "Zhanjiang" class in service changed their mission modules and took on air defense and strike tasks in low-intensity naval battles.

In terms of economic benefits, the "Zhanjiang" level is undoubtedly the most successful investment of the Navy.

You should know that the Navy paid only 14 billion yuan of design expenses for the "Zhanjiang" class. Even if the development expenses of the jh-45 reactor were included, it was only more than 300 billion yuan. After a balance, the development and design expenses of each "Zhanjiang" class were only more than 100 million yuan. Among the warships of the same period, the development and design expenses of the "Taishan" class were nearly 20 billion yuan, and the "Heilongjiang" class reached 17 billion yuan. More importantly, the "Zhanjiang" class was successfully exported to more than a dozen countries, and two-thirds of the development and design expenses were allocated through export. Relatively speaking, the "Taishan" class was impossible to export, and the "Heilongjiang" class would not be sold to several major allies such as Pakistan, India, Egypt, etc. until the end of the Third World War.

Of course, the successful opening of the export market also has extremely important political significance.

Not to mention, when the Zhanjiang class was on the list of Chinese arms exports, no country could sell similar warships, not even the United States. For many small and medium-sized countries, the Zhanjiang class was the most ideal large warship, and it was bound to be close to China. For example, after selling the Zhanjiang class to South Africa, China's relations with South Africa improved greatly, and South Africa remained neutral in the early stages of World War III and did not provide military bases to the United States, greatly reducing the combat burden of the Chinese navy in the Indian Ocean.

It can be said that these are all related to Mu Haoyang.

From the perspective of equipment planning, Mu Haoyang was the number one hero of the Chinese Navy. Without the plans he made before the war and wise decisions, the Chinese Navy would definitely be a different person.

However, in the "investment" made by Mu Haoyang, the successful cases are definitely not just "Zhanjiang" level.
Chapter completed!