While the era of the battleship is over, China's new Type 055 is armed and ready like the old battlewagons of yesteryear. 

Here Comes the Type 055 Destroyer 

China is touting its Type 055 destroyer as a “role model” following its performance in several military exercises. The People Liberation Army’s first powerful warship was tasked with countering mock barrages by foreign forces when it snagged the title given by the Chinese Communist Party committee of the PLA Navy.

On January 7, Chinese state-run media outlets boasted that the Nanchang destroyer had successfully carried out at least ten primary missions since being commissioned back in 2020. From combat patrols in the Pacific Ocean and exercises in the South China Sea to sailing far ranges, the Type 005 is impressing Beijing.

A crew member aboard the destroyer told the Global Times: “When the foreign military aircraft gradually approached, our early warning and detection systems tracked and locked on them through their entire courses. We firmly and strongly fended off foreign military provocations,” adding that the ship “expanded the depth of defense, ensured the space for maneuver, and effectively fulfilled the sacred duty of guarding the carrier formation in the face of long-term, high-intensity harassment.”

Type 055: An Overview of China’s Most Powerful Destroyer:

Back in the late 1960’s, the PLA Navy began toying with concepts for a new and large destroyer.

A program dubbed “055” was established a decade later; however, it was then cancelled in the early 1980’s due to technical and industrial limitations.

In 2014, a full-scale mock-up of the destroyer was publicized at the Chinese naval electronic testing range in Wuhan. The lead ship of the class - Nanchang- was officially launched in 2017 and commissioned in 2020.

Since then, seven additional boats in this class have entered service with the PLA Navy or PLAN: including the Lhasa (pennant number 102), Anshan (104), Wuxi (107), Dalian (105) and Yan’an (106). A total of eight Type 055 warships were constructed at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai and Dalian Shipbuilding in Dalian.

Today, these destroyers are part of Beijing’s Northern Theatre Command, which includes Russian Siberia, Korea, and Mongolia. Additionally, these boats service the country’s Southern Theatre Command, encompassing the South China Sea and Southeast Asia.

Specs on the Type 055

Measuring nearly 600 feet in length with a total displacement of roughly 12-13,000 tons, the Type 055 design is designated by the West as a cruiser rather than a destroyer. Comparably, the

U.S. Navy’s upcoming Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers will measure roughly 90 feet less in length than the Type 055 ships and displace approximately 1,500 tons less. The Type 055 destroyers are powered by four gas turbines that generate a total of 150,000 horsepower. Each ship in this class has a cruising speed of 30 knots (56 kph) and can carry over 300 crew members on board.

Weapons

In terms of armament, the Type 055 ships are quite powerful.

Each destroyer is armed with 112 universal vertical launch system (VLS) missile tubes, with 64 launchers fitted forward and 48 launchers further aft. As detailed by the U.S. Naval Institute, each launcher can sport a combination of HHW-9B surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and YJ-18 anti-ship cruise missiles, which have ranges of 100 nautical miles and 290 nautical miles, respectively.

Forward on the bridge, a single 130mm gun and a 30mm close-in weapon system are outfitted on each Type 055 destroyer. Additionally, a pair of triple 324-mm torpedo launchers are incorporated for short-range anti-submarine warfare capability.

The VLS design incorporated in the Type 055 boats is notably different from the Mk 41 and Mk 57 systems found on the U.S. Navy’s counterparts. While analysts are not sure how exactly the firing of these hot-launched missiles works, it is believed that these weapons are loaded into cells that contain the flame once they are launched.

According to The Drive, experts speculate that this could enable cold-launched missiles designed for these cells to be able to be “designed in a way that maximizes the available space, and therefore be larger than hot-launched types that can also be loaded into these arrays since they do not require the protective sleeve.”

What About the Cost?

Each Type 055 destroyer has a roughly $920 million dollar bio attached to it. The USS Zumwalt, which is considered to be a near-peer to the Chinese class, costs the Navy around $7 billion Although the Type 055 is notably less pricey than the Zumwalt-class, it is far more costly than Beijing’s other newer vessels.

The Type 055 destroyers feature superior technology and designs than their predecessors, which necessitates a higher price tag.

As the Type 055 class grows, the destroyers are expected to function as carrier escorts in their primary roles. China is rapidly expanding its naval capabilities across the board, and its most potent destroyers play a crucial role in its power projection strategy across the South China Sea.

About the Author: Maya Carlin 

Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.