Chinese Destroyer “Fires On” Suspected Aerial Targets & Shoots at Hostile Vessel in South China Sea

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

A newly commissioned quasi-stealthy Type 055 People’s Liberation Army – Navy destroyer recently fired its guns and electronic warfare weapons while conducting combat preparation training in the South China Sea.

The Chinese government-backed Global Times newspaper reports that the PLA Navy’s Type 055 Zunyi destroyer detected, fired upon and destroyed “multiple suspected aerial targets.”

The paper does not specify what exactly these “suspected aerial targets” were, raising the possibility that they could have been hostile drones of some kind. It is not likely that the PLA Navy fired upon and intercepted any kind of “manned” target, yet the report is clear that hostile shots were fired.

“During the exercise, the Zunyi‘s early warning and detection systems found multiple suspected aerial targets, which the warship successfully intercepted by taking an advantageous position, releasing jamming rounds and firing its close-in weapon system,” the Global Times reports. Following this incident, the PLA Navy also reportedly quickly “counterattacked” a hostile vessel, damaging the target with its main gun.

No additional details of these incidents were provided, yet the decision to use target interceptors in the form of EW and close-in ship defense weapons signifies a PLA Navy willingness to use lethal force in maritime scenarios in the South China Sea.

“A hostile vessel target approached the Zunyi, which responded with a fast counterattack, heavily damaging the target with its main gun,” the Global Times reports.