China’s New Type 055 Destroyer Readies to Hunt Submarines as U.S. and Taiwan Tensions Rise

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By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

China’s first quasi-stealthy new Type 055 destroyer is preparing for aggressive submarine-hunting missions in water near Taiwan and the South China Sea by testing helicopter-dropped sonar and built-in anti-submarine technologies.

Part of the exercise included cross-domain networking initiatives wherein the surface destroyer networked with helicopters and other aircraft to track threats and transmit target data in real time, according to the Chinese Communist Party-backed Global Times newspaper. The four day exercises included what the paper called “realistic scenario-oriented anti-submarine training courses.”

Type 055 Destroyer: Submarine-Hunting

In a manner apparently quite similar to how US DDG 51 Arleigh Burke class destroyers interoperate with MH-60R helicopters, the new Chinese “Nanchang” destroyer dispatched a Z-9 search helicopter to deploy sonar equipment. The paper praised the Nanching’s ability to discern submarine signals from other sources of undersea noise.

“Despite fishing boat activities in the vicinity of the exercise zone, which disrupted the sonar equipment’s detection of submarines, the Nanchang was able to use its acoustic data analysis and application system to accurately distinguish the noises of the submarine,” the Global Times writes.

The extent of secure or hardened connectivity between the Nanching and its sub-hunting helicopters would be crucial, as it may not parallel the US Navy’s ability to quickly exchange threat data from undersea to helicopter and drones before reaching a host ship destroyer able to perform command and control.