China’s first Type 055/Renhai-class cruiser Nanchang was commissioned in January 2020, after being unveiled during the 70th anniversary naval parade in Qing-dao. China military analysts assert the 12,000-ton ships—lethal machines with
112 vertical launch cells and sometimes classified as destroyers—are “a reflection of a major shift in China's deep blue water strategy, as safeguarding China's sovereignty, security, and oversea interests.” Keels for eight were laid down from 2017 to 2020, with at least four more planned. In the future, they may be armed with electromagnetic railguns.
In April, the Nanchang conducted combat training off Qingdao and in May completed its first known maritime replenishment training. China naval analysts noted that this training is “an important part of its combat capability generation program.” The ability to conduct underway replenishment is an imperative for the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), which expects the Type 055 cruisers to perform far seas missions accompanying aircraft carriers or leading independent naval task groups.
In September 2020, China Central Television reported the Type 055’s unique dual-band radar system has antistealth and antisatellite capabilities (against targets in low-Earth orbit). By 2030, as many as 16 Type 055s could be available to escort the PLAN’s carrier and expeditionary strike groups that will be deployed around the world.
On the same day as the Nanchang’s commissioning, the PLAN also commissioned the new “stretch” version of the Type 052D/Luyang III–class guided-missile destroyer, the Zibo.
While the U.S. Navy suffered the devastating fire and eventual scrapping of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) in 2020, the PLAN launched its second Type 075/Yushen-class landing helicopter dock at the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai on 22 April, the day before the 71st anniversary of the PLAN’s establishment. In December, just eight months later, the same ship began its first sea trials. It could join the first Type 075 (launched in September 2019) in the operational fleet as early as the end of 2021. A third Type 075 is under construction in Shanghai and is expected to be launched in 2021.
Sources:
“China’s First Type 055 Destroyer Nanchang Commissioned,” China Daily, 12 January 2020
Liu Xuanzun, “Chinese Navy Commissions First Type 055 Destroyer,” Global Times, 12 January 2020
Manfred Meyer, Modern China’s Maritime Forces: A Compilation of Ships and Boats of the Chinese Navy, Coast Guard, Maritime Militia and Other State Authorities (The Admiralty Triology Group, 2020)
Liu Xuanzun, “China Reveals Large Destroyer’s Replenishment Training for 1st time,” Global Times, 12 May 2020
Liu Xuanzun, “China’s Type 055 Destroyer Has Anti-stealth, Anti-satellite Capabilities: Report,” Global Times, 11 September 2020
Eric Wertheim, “China’s Luyang III/Type 052D Destroyer Is a Potent Adversary,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings 146, no. 1 (January 2021): 92–93
Andrew Tate, “China’s Second Type 075 Amphibious Assault Ship Launched in Shanghai,” Jane’s Defence Weekly, 22 April 2020.
