not many realise that going from 22-24 knots to 27 is a big deal. The power required increases exponentially with speed. 3200 ton Formidable class does 27 knots on 4× MTU 20V 8000 M90, rated at 8,200 kW (11,000 shp) each.
There is nothing wrong with 054A’s max speed being 20-24 knots, which is good enough for most patrol frigates. It has nothing to do with China’s ability to make fast frigates. As I have said before it’s just about your requirement and the role you have planned for a particular asset.

P17’s LM2500 gas turbines are 33,600shp (25mw) each. Thats 50mw as against about 20mw for 054A.

Of the ships I discussed, the LaFayette has the lowest hp/t ratio. Yet is achieves 25 kt (with about 3/4-th of the HP/ton of the 054A): it is very unlikely that 054A will do anything less than 25 kt at top speed.

re. the extra hp of the Shivalik over the 054A, as was indicated, she’s also a good 1000 tons heavier that 054A. Following your own reasoning above, to get the extra speed she needs (a lot) more ‘extra power’.

True, so I said “if required”.

That’s why I said sprint speed (you don’t sprint long distances)

Note that gas turbines are not only meant for sprint. Many warships including Delhi class run on turbines exclusively. INS Shivalik can sustain high speed for distant deployment if required.

Note I included 29 knots for the carrier Cavour, which runs on a all GTu plant as well. Howerer, like the Kashin/Rajput and Talwar classes, the Delhi class has a COGAG plant while Shivalik has CODAG. Running at top speed significantly affects range (or the need to engage in replenishment at sea). The choice for CODAG may reflect a realisation of this trade-off.

Rajput
Main Machinery: Four 72,000 hp gas turbine engines and two shafts.
Maximum Speed: 35 knots.
Maximum Range: 4000 miles at 18 knots.
…………………..2600 miles at 30 knots.

Delhi P15 (and also P15A)
The M36E gas turbine plant comprise four DT-59 reversible gas turbines grouped in two pairs
Maximum Speed: 32+ knots.
Economical Speed: 14 – 18 knots.
Maximum Range: 5000 miles.

Talwar
Zorya/Mashproekt M7N.1E gas turbine plant with 2 x DS-71 cruise turbines and 2 x DT-59 boost turbines in two engine rooms. (COGAG)
Maximum Speed: 30 knots.
Maximum Range: 4850 miles at 14 knots.
…………………..1600 miles at 30 knots

Shivalik
Maximum Speed: 30+ knots for GT operations. Maximum cruising speed of 22 knots on diesels.

INS Viraat (on a good day 😉
Maximum Speed: 28 knots.

Air Defense Ship
The vessel will be powered by four General Electric LM 2500 gas turbines, generating a total power of 80 MW (~ 120,000 hp).
Maximum Speed: 28 knots.

LaFayette: 4,000 nautical miles (7,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h), 9000km at 12 knots (22 km/h)
Formidable: The cruise and maximum speeds are 18kt and 27kt and the range is 7,200km (4,000nm) at 18kt

Related News:

U.S. Lawmaker Asks France To Stop Russia Ship Sale

France should abandon its proposed sale of four advanced warships to Russia, which could inflict “irreparable damage” on NATO and transatlantic ties, a top U.S. lawmaker warned April 16.

“This sale threatens to shake the NATO alliance to its core, bolstering Russia’s offensive military capabilities as it intensifies its campaign of intimidation against neighboring countries,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Full Story

From the article:

If the deal goes through, it would be the first sale of advanced military technology by a NATO country to Russia.

Is that correct?

The T-90S entered service with the Russian Army in 1992. In February 2001, the Indian Army signed a contract for 310 T-90S tanks. 124 were completed in Russia and the rest are being delivered in ‘knocked down / semi-knocked down’ form for final assembly in India.

The first of these was delivered in January 2004. The locally assembled tanks are christened ‘Bhishma’. The tanks are fitted with the Shtora self-protection system and Catherine thermal imagers from Thales of France and Peleng of Belarus.

By November 2007, it has been estimated that the Russian Army has around 200 T-90 tanks. In August 2007, Thales was awarded a contract to supply 100 of these with the Catherine FC thermal imager.

http://www.army-technology.com/projects/t90/

The Namut thermal sight is a joint development between Sagem Défense Sécurité of France (for the sight’s thermal imager), SKBM-Kurgan of the Russian Federation and Associated States (CIS) (for the Kurganmashzavod BMP-3 IFV), JSC Peleng of Belarus (for the stabilised sight section) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is the customer for a number of BMP-3 infantry combat vehicles to which the sight is being fitted. It is believed that the UAE have taken delivery of 650 Kurganmashzavod BMP-3 infantry combat vehicles, which are equipped with this sighting system.

http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Electro-Optic-Systems/Sagem-SKBM-Peleng-Namut-thermal-sight-International.html

I think its basically jack of all trades and master of none. ASW is a strong point, but still have to chose between ASW & Anti-Ship Klub variants. Btw, what do u think its exceptionally good in?

You’re entitled your opinions. IMHO, she’ll use Anti-ship Club, making her an all-rounder, with ASW emphasis. A role at which she will do fine, compared to eg. Type 054A (which will be part of PLAN CBG escort).

i.e operational 7 + to be commisioned 8, total 15 ships. And the best these ships have is 40-45Km range missile.

As with PLAN, you have to consider where the IN is coming from. Compared to earlier units, including P16 and P16A, that is a 3-4x longer range and hence (limited) area air defence.

Finally that gives us a figure of 27 ships thats needed for 2 CBGs.
1) Now whats to left to defend the large maritime area and the East coast and other places???
2) How many tanker/replinishment ships will Indian Navy need to feed all those 27 ships needed to escort an already demanding carrier??
3) where is the reserve?? Or lets consider that Indian Navy have 100% availablity.

You don’t have 12-13 ships escorting each carrier, but you need that number in order to be able to have each escorted by 4-6 ships at any given time. Which means the there will be 7-8 ships around to pick up other tasks, provided they are not in dock or in transit to/from the operations area.

It would have been better if those 5 Kashins were given a proper Air-defence installation at the aft in the place of the Brahmos. 4-8 Brahmos at the front was good enough and the aft cud have been stuffed with 48 Shtil or longer range 9M96E2. JMT

In view of age, I expect not all 5 Kashins will be modernized and afaik the VL installation for Brahmos is installed on just 1 and for trial purposes only.

The most costeffective upgrades are simple, while adding fire power and surviability (i.e. inclined Brahmos and VL Barak, plus existing systems modernization)

I tend to think that Russian helicopters aren’t particularly handsome beasts, particularly when compared to their Western counterparts.

The same could be said about many russian warships, particularly the older Soviet-era designs.

They are a functional, menacing, alien, insect-like collection of subsystems. In a peculiar way, that is also beautiful.

Newer designs e.g. Ka-62, Mi-34, Mi-38, Kazan Ansat are much more similar to western counterparts.

Meanwhile, got to love ships like the Mi-26T: essentially the rotorcraft complement to the C-130

Most I like their actual version of James Bond’s ‘little Nellie’, the Ka-56 “Wasp” helicopter: the smallest passenger helicopter in the world that could carry one person and can be folded in the tube that can be carried also by one person.

Sci-fi in action:

T-45 Goshawk: “Deliveries [to USN and USMC] are scheduled to conclude in 2009.”

Boeing, in St Louis, acts as prime contractor with responsibility for the manufacture of the forward fuselage and cockpit, overall systems integration, final assembly, flight test, and integrated logistic support.

BAE Systems is responsible for manufacture and assembly of the sections aft of the rear cockpit bulkhead, which include the wings, centre and rear fuselage, fin, tailplane, air intake, tailcone, speedbrake, windscreen, canopy, and flight controls. BMW Rolls-Royce is responsible for the powerplant and Raytheon for the simulators.

To meet the needs of the US Navy training mission and to ensure aircraft carrier compatibility, several modifications to the basic Hawk airframe were incorporated into the T-45 Goshawk design, including: new twin nose-wheel with catapult launch T-bar; nose-wheel steering for manoeuvring within the confines of the carrier deck; strengthened airframe and undercarriage for catapult launches; relocated speed brakes; provision of under-fuselage tailhook; revised avionics and modified cockpit layout for compatibility with front-line US Navy combat aircraft.

http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/t45/

I doubt it would be very hard to ‘splice’ the forward section of a Hawk-200 and ‘graft’ it onto the T-45 Goshawk and arrange for 7 hardpoints. I have a hunch the LIFT variant is pretty close to latest Goshawk variant anyway in terms of cockpit. This is soooo do-able. But …. very small demand and so commercially probably not viable!