Anchungang-class fast combat support ship
 Side view of BHBK-1461 Anchungang
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Anchungang class |
| Operators: | Menghe |
| Preceded by: | Yŏngjŏnggang-class replenishment ship |
| Built: | 2015-2021 |
| In service: | 2018-present |
| Planned: | 4 |
| Completed: | 4 |
| Active: | 4 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Fast combat support ship |
| Displacement: | 45,000 tonnes |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 31.4 m |
| Draught: | 11.3 m (full load) |
| Propulsion: | |
| Speed: | 25 knots |
| Boats & landing craft carried: | 2 × RHIB |
| Complement: |
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| Sensors and processing systems: | 1 × HR-171 3D air search radar |
| Electronic warfare & decoys: |
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| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 3 × GH-36 compound helicopter |
| Aviation facilities: | hangar |
The Anchungang class is a type of fast combat support ship built in Menghe for the Menghean Navy. During the design and development process, they were assigned the designation Plan 1650. Four ships were commissioned between 2018 and 2021, and each is assigned to one of the Menghean Navy's carrier battle groups. Compared with the preceding Yŏngjŏnggang-class replenishment ships, these vessels have a larger fuel, water, and dry goods capacity, and they can more easily keep up with fast-moving ship formations. They also carry YDG-66 surface-to-air missiles for self-defense against missiles and aircraft.
Description
Replenishment capability
The Anchungang-class ships are designed to conduct underway replenishment of carrier battle groups and anti-submarine battle groups. Depending on mission requirements, they can either accompany a battle group and transfer stored supplies as needed; take on supplies at a friendly port, sprint to the battle group, and resupply it directly; or take on bulk supplies from a dedicated fleet oiler or solid goods transport ship, and then distribute them to ships in the battle group. Because the Menghean Navy tends to operate close to friendly ports on long patrols, the second approach is most common.
There are a total of 11 alongside replenishment stations on the Anchungang-class ships: six on the port side, and five on the starboard side. Because Menghean aircraft carriers conduct replenishment from their starboard side, the asymmetric layout speeds up carrier refueling. The four dry goods transfer cranes, mounted at points 1, 2, 7, and 8, move ammunition, supplies, and personnel in suspended seats or stretchers. The seven hose rigs, mounted at points 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11, transfer bunker fuel, multipurpose ship fuel, aviation fuel, and fresh water, each one through a dedicated hose.
To refuel ships without dedicated alongside replenishment equipment, the Anchungang-class ships can also trail a hose in the water over the stern. A ship following behind can then recover this hose and connect it to a refueling pipe forward of the superstructure. This arrangement takes longer to set up, and can only be conducted at slower speeds, but it is the only way to refuel certain missile craft and coastal patrol ships.
To speed up the transfer of goods, or to resupply at longer distances, the Anchungang-class fast combat support ships also have vertical replenishment capabilities. Each ship has hangar space for three Gyundoan-Han GH-36 Mulsuri compound helicopters, usually the unarmed utility variant, which can move personnel and light supplies in the passenger compartment or carry heavier cargo pallets from a suspended sling. The large helicopter landing pad leaves ample space to line up cargo pallets for transfer, and GH-28 helicopters from the receiving ship can also be pressed into VERTREP service.
Armament and countermeasures
Because the Anchungang-class fast combat support ships are meant to accompany carrier battle groups operating in contested waters, they are fitted with a relatively strong defensive suite. On top of the main pyramid mast is a 3D AESA air search radar under a radar-transparent dome. This can detect fixed-wing aircraft at a range of 80 kilometers, or sea-skimming targets at a range of slightly over 30 kilometers. The ship is also fitted with two D-105 datalinks to receive targeting information from nearby Menghean warships and aircraft.
The onboard electronic warfare suite consists of two JJ-8 passive ESM radomes and four JJ-7 active ECM radomes. As on other Menghean ships equipped with this system, the JJ-8 antenna can detect incoming anti-ship missiles by their active radar emissions and automatically cue JJ-7 radomes to jam the missile in the same frequency. As a second line of defense, four Baram-2 chaff and flare projectors can deploy IR- and radar-absorbent smoke in the path of the missile, and four heavy decoy projectors can drop floating decoys alongside the ship.
Hardkill missile defense consists of two GBM-23/5 Bulkkot close-in weapon system mounts, one on top of the hangar and one on the forecastle deckhouse. This is the same CIWS armament as the Yŏngjŏnggang-class replenishment ships. The main improvement over the preceding class comes in the installation of four self-defense-length Mark 41 VLS cells forward of the bridge. These can be loaded with quadpacked YDG-66 surface-to-air missiles, for a total of 32 missiles. Based on the Hallian CAMM missile, the vertically launched YDG-66G has a range of 25 kilometers and good accuracy, and greatly improves the ship's ability to intercept anti-ship missiles.
The Anchungang-class fast combat support ships carry no anti-submarine armament, but they are fitted with two Manhwagyŏng-H torpedo countermeasure launchers. These traversing box launchers each carry twelve launch tubes, each one containing an undersea seducer and jammer which generates false targets and interferes in the sonar system of wake-following torpedoes. The Anchungang-class ships do not carry any hull-mounted sonar, so they must generally rely on an accompanying escort ship to alert them about incoming torpedoes and transfer datalink information. Alternatively, an Anchungang-class ship can trail a short-range torpedo warning sonar over the stern, though this reduces their top speed.
Propulsion
The preceding Yŏngjŏnggang-class ships were relatively slow, with a top speed of 20 knots. This was adequate for most replenishment operations, but it meant that if a carrier had to operate at full speed for an extended period of time, the replenishment ship could fall behind. To correct for this problem, the Anchungang-class fast combat support ships were fitted with four General Electric LM2500+G4 gas turbine engines in a COGAG arrangement similar to that used on the Haeju-class destroyers. The turbines are staggered across two watertight compartments, resulting in an asymmetric two-funnel layout.
At full power, the Anchungang-class ships can maintain a speed of 25 knots, three knots shy of the conventionally-powered Sibiwŏl Hyŏgmyŏng class aircraft carriers. This higher speed also reduces the transit time between a friendly port and a battle group.
Ships in the class
The Menghean Navy ordered a total of four Anchungang-class fast combat support ships in 2015. As of early 2021, all have been completed and are in service.
Like their predecessors, the four ships of the Anchungang class are named for Menghean rivers.
| Hull number | Ship name | Gomun | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Assigned CVBG (2021) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BHBK-1461 | Anchungang | 安春江 | 2015-09-27 | 2017-01-19 | 2018-12-04 | MH-10 Haebang |
| BHBK-1462 | Okgang | 玉江 | 2016-04-03 | 2017-11-04 | 2019-06-01 | MH-13 Gukga Gyŏngje Gijŏk |
| BHBK-1463 | Ryanggang | 楊江 | 2017-01-22 | 2018-05-07 | 2020-01-06 | MH-12 Sibiwŏl Hyŏgmyŏng |
| BHBK-1464 | Songgang | 松江 | 2017-11-06 | 2019-04-13 | 2021-02-27 | MH-14 Choe Sŭng-min |