China's First Home-Grown Missile Destroyer Launched In Shanghai, Enhances PLA Navy's Combat Ability
Displacing about 10,000 tonnes, the Chinese navy’s first Type 055 missile destroyer is larger than any surface combatant China has built to date, and clearly shows that its blue-water navy is becoming a reality. (PLA-N photo)
According to the PLA Daily, the new missile destroyer's launching ceremony has been held at 9:00 am Wednesday morning in Shanghai's Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co under the China State Shipbuilding Corporation, and Zhang Youxia, head of the CMC Equipment Development Department, attended the ceremony.
This is China's first home-grown 10,000-ton class missile destroyer with advanced anti-air, anti-missile, anti-vessel and anti-submarine capabilities, and it is completely self-developed by China and it is a symbol of the Chinese navy's strategic transformation, according to the report.
The next step for this vessel will focus on equipment testing and sea trial.
The PLA Daily's report didn't mention the name or the type of this destroyer but according to previous reports and expert analyses, it is a Type 055 guided-missile destroyer, and it is a crucial member in China's future aircraft carrier strike group.
Type 055 destroyer will greatly enhance PLA Navy's combat capability in the open sea, and ground attack capability, as its higher tonnage will enable it to be more versatile, Song Zhongping, a military expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
More importantly, Type 055 will form China's maritime anti-missile system together with 052D destroyer, which is already enlisted. China will be able to build a Chinese version of the 'Aegis missile defense system with the inclusion of 055, Song said.
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