Sanming underway on 12 June 2015
History
China
Name	Sanming (三明)
Namesake	Sanming
Builder	Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, Shanghai
Launched	December 1998
Commissioned	25 December 1999
Identification	Pennant number: 524
Status	Active
General characteristics
Class and type	Type 053H3 frigate
Displacement	2,250 tons(empty) 2,393 tons (full)
Length	112 m (367.5 ft)
Beam	12.4 m (40.7 ft)
Draft	4.3 m (14.1 ft)
Propulsion	2 shafts, CODAD: 2 x 18E390VA diesel at 23,600 hp (17,600 kW) 2 x MTU diesel at 8,715 hp (6,499 kW)
Speed	28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range	5,000 mi (8,000 km) at 15 to 16 knots (28 to 30 km/h)
Complement	168 (30 officers)
Sensors and processing systems	Type 360 Radar (SR60) Surface Search, E/F band Type 517H-1 (Knife Rest) 2D long-range air search, A-band Type 345 Radar (MR35) HQ-7 Surface-to-air missile fire-control, J-band Type 352 Radar (Square Tie) surface search and AShM fire control, I-band Type 343GA (Wasp Head) fire control radar for main gun, G/H-band 2 × Type 347G/EFR-1 (Rice Lamp) dual 37 mm AA gun fire control, I-band 2 × Racal RM-1290 Navigation radar, I-band
Electronic warfare & decoys	Data link: HN-900 (Chinese equivalent of Link 11A/B, to be upgraded) Communication: SNTI-240 SATCOM Combat Data System: ZKJ-3C RWD-8 (Jug Pair) intercept Type 981-3 EW Jammer SR-210 Radar warning receiver Type 651A IFF 2 × Type 946/PJ-46 15-barrel decoy rocket launchers
Armament	2 × 4-cell C-802A Anti-ship missile 1 × 8-cell FM-90 Surface-to-air missile system 1 × PJ33A dual 100 mm gun 4 × Type 76A dual 37 mm AA guns 2 × 6-tube Type 3200 ASW rocket launchers 2 × DC racks
Aircraft carried	AgustaWestland AW109
Aviation facilities	Hangar and helipad

Sanming (524) is a Type 053H3 frigate of the People's Liberation Army Navy. She was commissioned on 25 December 1999.

Development and design

The ship's anti-aircraft defense is mainly the Haihongqi-7 with short-range point defense. The foreign trade model of the missile is FM-90N, with a total length of 3 meters, a bullet diameter of 156 mm, a wingspan of 0.55 meters, a launch weight of 84.5 kg, and a maximum speed of 2.3. Mach, the shooting height is 15-5500 meters, the maximum range is 10 to 12 kilometers, the minimum range is 500 meters, and the kill probability is about 70%. It can intercept low-altitude targets with a flying height of less than 5 meters, and the system response speed is 6.5 seconds. After the modification, it was replaced with an 8-unit Haihongqi-10 near defense missile.

The quadruple Eagle Strike-83 anti-ship missile is the standard equipment of the PLA naval destroyer. It is 6.86 meters long, 1.18 meters wingspan, 0.36 meters bullet diameter, total weight 850 kg, warhead weight 165 kg, and sea skimming altitude 35 Meters, at a distance of 5 kilometers from the target, it drops to 5-7 meters from the sea, the maximum range is 150-180 kilometers, and the single shot hit rate is more than 95%.

The hangar and in front of the bridge are equipped with two 76A double-barreled 37mm anti-aircraft guns. After modification, it was replaced with two simplified versions of H/PJ-12 7-tube 30mm naval guns (fire control radar adopts centralized arrangement).

Construction and career

Sanming was launched in December 1998 at the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai. Commissioned on 25 December 1999 into the East Sea Fleet.

On March 5, 2007, Sanming and Lianyungang formed a Chinese navy formation and arrived in Karachi, Pakistan, to participate in the "Peace-07" multinational naval exercise held in the North Arabian Sea from March 6 to 13.^[1]

Gallery

• 
  Sanming on 28 June 2006
• 
  Captain Jeff Bartkoski of USS Blue Ridge presents a command coin to Sanming on 28 June 2006
• 
  Sailors of USS Blue Ridge visited Sanming on 28 June 2006
• 
  Captain Jeff Bartkoski of USS Blue Ridge visited Sanming on 28 June 2006
• 
  Sanming's Type 360 radar
• 
  Sanming's Type 76A 37mm gun

References