The first of China's new Type 055 guided missile destroyers will be delivered to the People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force (PLANSF) later this year.
Construction of the first four of these warships, whose main role will be to escort PLANSF aircraft carriers, began in 2014. PLANSF plans to build 10 of this class.
The lead ship of the Type 055-class, as well as the second, began building at the Jiangnan Changxingdao shipyard near Shanghai in late 2014. The first was launched in June 2017 and the second in April 2018. The other two destroyers were built at the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company and launched a few days ago. The latter two are expected to finish sea trials in the next few months and be delivered to the PLANSF by October 2019.
With a displacement of more than 10,000 metric tonnes, the Type 055 is the largest destroyer in the PLANSF and in Asia. It features "high speed, great cruising ability, long endurance and sound global seaworthiness." The warships will also have "outstanding stealth performance," on account of "various stealth designs and comprehensive stealth means."
The Type 055 will be armed with more than 100 missiles of various types in its vertical launching system (VLS). These missiles consist of anti-ship missile missiles; surface-to-air missiles; anti-submarine missiles and long-range land-attack cruise missiles. The destroyer also mounts a single 130 mm main gun.
The Type 055 was developed and built based on the needs of aircraft carrier battle groups. Its medium-long-range and medium-short range air-defense missiles significantly improve its overall air defense capability.
"Launching four 10,000-ton class missile destroyers in about one year shows China's remarkable shipbuilding capability, and compared to other major naval powers, including the U.S., China's speed is the fastest," said Wang Yunfei, a military expert.
"According to the history of the PLA Navy, we normally need about 10 destroyers, and in the future, the Navy will be heavy and diversified, so it's possible to see more than 10 Type 055 join the PLA."
