ILLUSTRATION. Two Chinese-owned destroyers during the exercise.
Source: South China Morning Post | Editor: SS Kurniawan
KONTAN.CO.ID – BEIJING. China is likely to launch its eighth missile-guided stealth destroyer, which it designs for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy carrier strike group, later this year.
The warship will complete the first batch of Type 055 destroyers. But, Navy experts say, it could take up to five years for all warships to be ready for combat with their advanced design.
The destroyer is undergoing the painting process at a shipyard in Dalian owned by a contractor who does a lot of the PLA Navy shipbuilding. This indicated that the ship was about to be launched, according to reports publishedposting on Weibo and WeChat.
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Quoting China South Morning PostThe PLA Navy received its seventh Type 055 destroyer last May. And with the first, Nanchang, officially joined the PLA Navy in January, two and a half years after its launch.
Navy experts say it will be three years before the eighth destroyer joins the PLA after sea trials. The second destroyer is currently undergoing sea trials after launching two years ago.
At 12,000 tonnes, the Type 055 is the second most powerful destroyer in the world after the DDG-1000 of the United States Navy (US) or the Zumwalt class. China designed the Type 055 to guard the Type 002 aircraft carrier, which has the world’s most advanced electromagnetic catapult system.
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