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The Navy Should Worry: China’s Type 055 destroyer exemplifies the nation’s naval modernization and global ambitions.

-As part of the PLAN’s growing fleet, this stealth-guided missile destroyer boasts advanced air defense, anti-submarine capabilities, and blue-water operational range, supporting China’s assertive Indo-Pacific strategy.

-Featuring low radar observability, 112 vertical launching system (VLS) cells, advanced sensors, and multi-role weaponry like the YJ-18 cruise missile and HHQ-9 surface-to-air missile, the Type 055 also functions as a battle management hub.

-With 16 units planned and eight already launched, the Type 055 highlights China’s industrial prowess and its intent to secure influence beyond its regional borders.

China’s Type 055 Destroyer: A Game-Changer in Naval Power

China is engaged in one of world history’s most ambitious shipbuilding sprees. Having surpassed the Americans, China now possesses the world’s largest navy. The milestone represents the culmination of decades worth of investment in a variety of new vessels, including aircraft carriers, submarines, and surface vessels – including the Type 055 destroyer.

China’s shipbuilding efforts complement a newly assertive foreign policy in which Xi Jinping’s government has doubled down on numerous territorial claims throughout the Indo-Pacific. 

The territorial claims are given more credence because of China’s modern and robust naval presence, of which the Type 055 is emblematic. 

Introducing the Type 055

The Type 055 is a stealth guided-missile destroyer in service with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). Designed to serve in a multimission role, the Type 055 is capable of air defense and anti-submarine configurations. 

The destroyer is truly “blue-water” capable, meaning the destroyer can serve on the open ocean – offering the PLAN an extended sphere of influence, sufficient perhaps to enforce claims throughout the region and abroad. 

Indeed, the blue-water designation is an important distinction, a prerequisite for nations interested in extending their influence beyond the provincial. 

The Chinese have long wanted to build a large, blue-water destroyer like the Type 055; plans for the program emerged as early as the 1960s but were abandoned in the 1980s when confronted with the reality of China’s industrial shortcomings.

 In the decades since those shortcomings have been ameliorated, China has been an industrial frontrunner, with rapidly expanding military-industrial output. 

Accordingly, the large destroyer plan was revisited.

China Navy Destroyer. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Americans were first alerted to the destroyer project in 2014 when an image surface of a new destroyer’s superstructure at a Chinese naval testing facility in Wuhan. 

Construction began on the first ship in the Type 055 class, known as the Nanchang, shortly thereafter. 

Exemplifying the tempo and urgency of Chinese shipbuilding efforts, eight Type 055 vessels were laid down in just four years between 2014 and 2018. 

A second batch followed almost immediately and is currently underway; sixteen Type 055 destroyers are planned. 

New Technology

Like so many new military products, the Type 055 was constructed with an emphasis on having low radar observability. Accordingly, the vessel features an enclosed forecastle, which obscures angular surfaces and reduces the Type 055’s radar cross-section. 

The Type 055 is understood to carry missiles in 112 vertical launching system (VLS) cells. The VLS is compatible with the HHQ-9 surface-to-air missiles, the YJ-18 anti-ship cruise missile, the CJ-10 land-attack cruise missile, and anti-submarine torpedoes. 

Chinese PLAN Navy. Image: Chinese Internet.

Chinese PLAN Navy. Image: Chinese Internet.

The Type 055 is also outfitted with a 130-mm main gun, an 11-barrel 30-mm CIWS, an HHQ-10 short-range air defense system, and 324-mm torpedo launchers. 

In short, the Type 055 is heavily armed. 

Complementing the slew of diverse weaponry are two helicopters; the Type 055 is compatible with either the Harbin Z-9, Changhe Z-18, or Harbin Z-20 helicopters. 

The Type 055 is also designed to serve as an information hub, capable of serving as a battle management station, thanks to various sensors and electronic systems – suggesting that if conflict emerged in the Indo-Pacific, the Type 055 would be featured prominently. 

About the Author: Harrison Kass 

Harrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.