As if you don't know how it works, you have been CNN anchor yourself. West's legacy media, such as BBC, CNN et al are nothing but goebbelsian homicidal propaganda with majority of those people being nothing but enablers of war crimes and genocide.
Goebbels never killed anyone personally, but he knew who he was and he knew his only outcome was in hanging from the gallows. So, he did this:
Appealing to some abstract "journalism"--a euphemism for prostitution--is akin to trying convince a reptile that it has the ability to learn calculus in a week. Journalism is not a profession or a craft, I know it without the prompt from Hunter Thompson, I knew it since a very long time ago. Average journo from the West has no humanity, morality or honor. This "jornalism" has been smeared forever with its own feces and belongs behind bars of history's judgement. Alternative reporting is already a thing. Real analysis is a whole other universe in which reporting is but a small part of a vast tool kit which no journo has.
One may ask, and the proper answer will be: people--first, and then--ships. Both are crucial but here is a funny thing, which many still cannot wrap their brains around. Especially true for West's media "experts" whose tactical-operational and technological horizon is limited to iPhones and Clanciesque meaningless cliches. Here is an example from CNN:
The tone of the piece reeks of desperation and of... a complete detachment from the realities of naval warfare of 2020s. The US is impressed by PLAN's, indeed impressive, Type 055 DDG.
These are elegant warships which pack a massive punch in terms of land-attack salvo or... anti-shipping missiles. With 13,000 ton full displacement these are really cruisers rather than destroyers, albeit today this distinction is notional. They carry a whopping 112 VLS cells and are equipped with HHQ-9 AD system which is a navalized fusion of Russia's S-300 and Western technology. Plus, and here is an important distinction, it carries YJ-18 anti-shipping missile (a Chinese knockoff of Russia's 3M54 Kalibr) and, allegedly, hypersonic ballistic anti-shipping missiles YJ-21. We will omit here discussing YJ-21 issue because there is precious little about its actual capabilities, if one discounts some short video of its test.
But in any case, these ships DO carry a shitload of anti-shipping missiles and that is what matters in the end. And here is the point. CNN appeals to... South Korean "match" called Sejong the Great:
But some Western analysts say the Type 055 may have a peer in South Korea’s Sejong the Great-class destroyers. At 10,000 to 12,000 tons displacement, the Sejongs are slightly
smaller than China’s Type 055s, but they have more firepower, with 128
VLS cells and weapons that include surface-to-air, anti-submarine and
cruise missiles. The three Sejongs, which cost about $925 million each, are the pride of the South Korean fleet. “With this one ship, (the South Korean Navy) can cope with
multiple simultaneous situations – anti-aircraft, anti-ship,
anti-submarine, anti-surface – and defend from ballistic missiles,” the
country’s Defense Media Agency says. Retired South Korean Adm. Duk-ki Kim, the first person to captain a
Sejong, says it’s more than a match for China’s Type 055. “China is focusing on quantity and price competitiveness rather
than the quality of its vessels,” Kim, now vice president of the Korea
Association of Military Studies, told CNN.
Didn't we hear this before (highlighted in yellow)? Let's take a look at Sejong the Great. Oh, boy!
Then we take a look at this "match" to PLAN's Type 055 specs and lo and behold! It is the same as it looks because it is yet another iteration of nearing obsolescence venerable (all flights) US Navy's Arleigh Burke-class DDGs. Same good ol' Aegis, same good ol' AN/SPY-1D and same... 16 subsonic anti-shipping missiles SSM-700K which are iterations of subsonic anti-shipping Harpoons and other analogues in NATO which are outpaced and outranged by any modern anti-shipping missile in Russian or Chinese arsenals.
While naval warfare is a very complex matter and involves much more than SuWa (Surface Warfare) it is precisely in this crucial field where Sejong the Great is not just NOT the "match" to PLAN's Type 055, but not even in the same league because same as vaunted Patriot PAC3 which performed dismally in 404, Aegis ships can only perform defense against slow flying (subsonic) targets and maybe, just maybe, against easy tactical-operational ballistic one. Against salvos of supersonic anti-shipping missiles, not to speak of hypersonic ones--they are useless. In this case of a missile exchange between Type 055 and Sejong the Great, the latter wouldn't even know what hit it, because Type 055 enjoys here an overwhelming advantage, especially with good over-the-horizon targeting.
Some admirals in the West (and Asia) are easily impressed by platforms--big, imposing, nice looking. Nothing wrong with the aesthetic part of it, I am the same way myself--I love beautiful ships. But the term "platform" should be engraved into the minds of real warriors--platforms are called such because, in the end of the day, for all other supremely important issues, such as propulsion, signal processing, ECM et al, the reason platforms exist is to carry weapons. And in terms of strike weapons South Korean "match" is not even in the same league as Type 055. As is the whole Western naval weapons' arsenal, with NATO and its Asian allies falling behind in modern strike weapons behind Russia and China not by years, but generations.
In the end, even this corvette packs so much striking power that it is even not necessary to compare.
It is four times smaller than Sejong the Great, yet it still has better air defense than Aegis and it can launch 8 Zircons in a salvo. So, when speaking about "matches" it is only natural for claimants to offer serious counter-arguments and not some amateurish BS and platform-centric military porn. Or, as they say among serious people: either put up or shut up.
In the US "independent reporting" is a euphemism for spreading BS. Now, that one has to answer for BS by the law suddenly this "independent reporting" seems scary. Not to mention the fact that neither BBC nor Bloomberg are related to "independent reporting" or real journalism in any way. They all are narrative-mongers and I think it is about time all these CNNs of the world must be kicked out of Russia and just make shit up in their respective offices in London, NYC and Atlanta. Saves money and effort. No, really.
But get this--a shining example of the Western intel (I am not being facetious--these are the types who consult on Russia in the West).
Great "expert", I am sure he is needed as the aid to some US Congressman or Senator. He is a perfect candidate for this kind of jobs. I know, I know there are so many other Russian "experts" in the West, take Masha Gessen or Julia Ioffe. Mr. Remnick or Mark Galleotti--all bring to the table years and years of studying all kinds of BS which has very little relation to the reality, but then again, Western political discourse long ago transitioned into the virtual realm and is shaped by narratives. Because tangibles are hard and require a systemic knowledge and thinking which has long ago left Western so called "intellectual" class. This class' military "expertise" is altogether something to behold. So, yes, prepare to Russia and its army's collapse. Any minute now Russia will run out of ammo, gas, soldiers and tanks. In (very) related news, I wonder when are the next indictments from John Durham's investigation coming. Remember, this guy Trump being a Russian stooge?