Middle East eyes frigates from China

Shipbuilding companies bring latest vessels to international arms show

China is active in marketing its naval weaponry, including the largest frigate it has ever developed for export, to Middle East countries, according to the latest arms show in the United Arab Emirates.

China State Shipbuilding Corp and China Shipbuilding Industry Corp, the two major contractors to the People's Liberation Army Navy, brought their newest offers to the five-day International Defense Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi, which concluded on Thursday. The exhibition is the largest and most important arms show in the Middle East region.

At the event, China State Shipbuilding Corp displayed for the first time a model of its 4,000-metric ton guided missile frigate, the largest frigate the nation has ever designed for the international market.

The multi-role combat ship is equipped with a vertical launch system capable of firing multiple types of missiles, a main naval gun, two four-cell anti-ship missile launchers as well as two close-in weapon systems, according to a news release from the company. It said the vessel has a stealth design and good survivability and can carry a large helicopter.

China State Shipbuilding Corp also revealed a 2,450-ton trimaran-hulled frigate, which will have strong firepower similar to that of the Type 054A frigate widely deployed by the Chinese Navy, and a 20,000-ton amphibious transport dock.

In addition to the new vessels, the shipbuilder also exhibited the model of a 3,000-ton guided missile frigate, which it introduced as the mightiest Chinese-made frigate that it has exported overseas. Though the company did not elaborate on the ship's exports, a source close to the matter told China Daily that three such frigates were delivered to the Algerian navy in 2015 and 2016 under the designation of C28A class.

For its part, China Shipbuilding Industry Corp, which is constructing China's first indigenously developed aircraft carrier at its Dalian shipyard, marketed at the show its 1,400-ton, 3,000-ton and 4,000-ton frigates as well as the Qilin class conventional attack submarine, which observers said highly resembles the eight S20 class diesel-electric submarines that Pakistan has ordered from China in a $5 billion deal.

Cui Yiliang, editor-in-chief of industry magazine Modern Ships, said that the major markets for Chinese warship builders are navies in Asia and Africa.

Despite the fact that Chinese warships still lag behind products from top European shipbuilders in terms of technology and variety, they are good enough to meet the requirements of developing nations and are more affordable, he said.

"Moreover, Chinese firms have intellectual property rights of most of the equipment on their ships and are willing to transfer their technologies to buyers," Cui noted.

According to the latest report on global arms transfers by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, China was the world's third-biggest arms exporter from 2012 to last year, although its 6.2 percent market share remained small compared to the combined 56 percent of exports from the United States and Russia.

zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn