HTMS Saiburi (FFG-458)

History

The Royal Thai Navy has invested in four Chinese-built 053HT-class warships for the guided-missile frigate mission. Of these, 53 were built for the Chinese navy and several foreign buyers, including Thailand. The four commissioned are HTMS Chao Phraya (FFG-455), HTMS Bangpaking (FFG-456), HTMS Kraburi (FFG-457) and HTMS Saiburi (FFG-458).

Built in the early 1990s as part of China's export program, the ships lack some of the standard equipment of the Chinese naval version.

The HTMS Saiburi featured in this article is still running at the time of writing (2018).

As a guided missile frigate, the HTMS Saiburi can be called upon to perform various types of missions either alone or as part of the main fleet. Its weapons are a mix of traditional projectile-based weapons and some missile-based systems.

Various systems on board provide warships with modern capabilities when dealing with various threats at sea and in the air.

The warship has a displacement of up to 1,500 tons, a total length of 338.5 feet, a beam of 35.4 feet, and a draft of 10 feet. The installed power is a diesel unit, allowing the vessel to travel at approximately 26 knots to 4,600 miles (cruising at 18 knots).

She is armed with 2 x 100mm deck guns and turrets, 6 x SY-1 surface-to-surface/anti-ship missile launchers, 4 x 37mm anti-aircraft (AA) guns (in two twin-gun installations), 2 x Type 81 five Attached torpedo tubes, 2 Type 62 5-barrel mortar launchers and 2 depth charge racks.

The forecastle is raised towards the bow and the hull superstructure is tilted forward. The bridge overlooks the forecourt in the usual sense, with the main mast attached directly to the stern. The mast is a closed pyramid with a "visor" fire control command. Midships is a low profile single pipe.

A short auxiliary mast (lattice structure) when mounted aft. She has a helipad in the stern that can support a Navy helicopter.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Wing