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.
The use of weapons by China’s Type 055 newest class of destroyers is quite significant, as the semi-stealthy ships are reportedly armed with a new generation of weapons, sensors and technologies compared with the PLA Navy’s existing Type 052 destroyers.
Alongside the PLA Navy’s use of lethal combat power in the South China Sea, apparently against a manned vessel of some kind, the Type 055 destroyers themselves are considered as a serious threat by the Pentagon. As many as seven or eight of them have been built and at least three Type 055 destroyers are already operational. The PLA Navy is on track to double its fleet of destroyers within just the next five years, according to the Pentagon’s annual China report. The Type 055 Destroyers are reported by Chinese newspapers as containing vertical launch systems and being capable of sea and land attack missions.
The hull of the Type 055 destroyer looks like a bit of a US Navy Zumwalt-class copycat as it appears somewhat angled, sleek and stealthy, yet the back of the Type 055 appears closer to a US Navy DDG 51 Arleigh-Burke class destroyer. In this respect, the destroyer arguably looks like a “hybrid” combination between a Zumwalt and DDG 51. While US Naval Sea Systems Command has reported that’s is fully “stealthy” Zumwalt-class destroyers appear as a small “fishing boat” to enemy radar, it is not clear just how stealthy or “detectable” the PLA Navy’s Type 055 ships are.
The largest threat associated with the Type 055 destroyers, however, is arguably related to its long-range attack weapons and possible Aegis-like ballistic missile defense technology.
“The PRC is working to develop BMD systems consisting of exo-atmospheric and endoatmospheric kinetic-energy interceptors. PRC state media confirmed the PLA’s intent to move ahead with land- and sea-based midcourse missile defense capabilities,” DoD’s 2021 “Report on Military and Security Developments involving the People’s Republic of China” states.
Kris Osborn is President of Warrior Maven – the Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
