[Military & Weapon Subsection] Author: Lele

On April 14th, the US "Army Recognition" website reported a sudden piece of news - "China's latest 'Outlook No.1' ocean-going survey ship has begun deployment, marking the beginning of the integration of maritime operations and space-based military strategies".

▲"Army Recognition" website has very high evaluation for "Outlook No.1".

Last year in the second half, it was found from outside that a domestically produced ship carrying many "balls" was about to be completed, which looked very much like the famous "Yuanwang" series survey ships. It was once thought to be the latest "Yuanwang No.8". But soon everyone realized that the new ship had great differences from the "Yuanwang" series, and it was finally confirmed as the new generation of 30,000-tonnage "Outlook" series, named "Outlook No.1" according to convention. Compared with the "Yuanwang" series, the additional 10,000-ton displacement of "Outlook No.1" is not only used to carry larger and more "balls" (earning it the nickname "Ball King"), but also adds two large phased array radars. It is believed that it can not only monitor traditional targets such as carrier rockets and long-range ballistic missiles, but also face the challenge of hypersonic missiles.

▲The size of "Outlook No.1" is indeed impressive.

In fact, the early-built "Yuanwang" series domestically were mainly to support the development of domestic carrier rockets and ballistic missile weapons. The "Yuanwang Three Sisters" built after 2006 began to have some global surveillance capabilities, but still needed other platforms to cooperate due to technical limitations. Another famous 815A-type electronic reconnaissance ship, although equipped with many "balls", was mainly used for medium and short distance electromagnetic signal collection and analysis, far from enough to monitor long-range targets. "Outlook No.1" basically inherited the core mission of the "Yuanwang" series, but its bow is a very classic clipper shape, which is more suitable for long-distance navigation and has certain high-speed wave-piercing capability.

▲"Yuanwang No.7" is already quite beautiful.

The main structure is obviously designed for stealth, combined with the antennas wrapped in radar-absorbing covers, which can significantly reduce the probability of being detected. From these carefully prepared designs, it can be seen that the operating environment of "Outlook No.1" is quite harsh, at least riskier than the "Yuanwang" series. The two large shipborne radars on the stern are very eye-catching, and it is speculated that they are X-band and S-band respectively. They can monitor typical targets at a distance of 5,000 kilometers with their huge power and excellent software design, which is much stronger than the US Navy's most advanced "Howard Lorenzen" missile measurement ship.

▲The working range of less than 10,000-ton 815A is relatively short.

By now, we can already outline the design positioning of "Outlook No.1" —— providing precise technical support when domestic launch missions are needed. At the same time, thanks to its tonnage advantage, it can be deployed to key areas to monitor the movements of opponents' carrier rockets and long-range ballistic missiles. In theory, at least three are needed to meet rotation requirements, so we should see "Outlook No.2" and "Outlook No.3" later. As for monitoring hypersonic weapons and ballistic missile tests through two large radars, it is technically feasible.

▲In the future, there will be more than one "Outlook".

Domestically, when developing Dongfeng-17 earlier, it was remotely monitored by Japanese land-based radar. Later, when Japan developed hypersonic weapons, due to the lack of an appropriate testing site, it specifically went to the United States for flight tests. Domestically, it was powerless. After "Outlook No.1" is put into use, this kind of awkward situation will not happen again —— the more than 30,000-ton "Outlook No.1" does not need to get too close to the US West Coast to collect a lot of flight information. According to the words of the "Army Recognition" website, the deployment of "Outlook No.1" is a milestone event, meaning that China can monitor space launches, satellite trajectories, and ballistic missile movements of the United States and other countries, undermining American technological advantages.

▲Previously, the US Navy had unilateral technical advantages with missile measurement ships.

In addition, the "Army Recognition" website made a special comment on "Outlook No.1" —— ugly but powerful. The article believes that with the increase in domestic production level, China's recently built surface vessels have the typical characteristic of "giving priority to practicality rather than smooth appearance". Under this practical mindset, "China is transforming into a major maritime and space power".

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7493389403910390291/

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