Dongguan Ship and Anqing Ship Join the Eastern Theater Navy: What Kind of Maritime Power Support Do They Bring?

The Type 055 destroyer is China's independently developed and built fourth-generation destroyer. It integrates advanced radar, universal vertical launch systems, and comprehensive electronic warfare capabilities, and is hailed as the "sword-bearing escort" of aircraft carriers, serving as the core of distant sea task forces.

Not long ago, the ninth Type 055 destroyer, the Dongguan, and the tenth, the Anqing, were commissioned simultaneously. They subsequently set sail for relevant waters in the East China Sea to conduct their first real combat training at sea. The number of Type 055 destroyers in the People's Navy has grown from single digits to double digits, achieving full deployment across all three major fleets. What are the characteristics of the Type 055 destroyer? What strategic significance does it hold for the Chinese Navy?

Military commentator Zhang Junsha told China Voice's "Fengxian Liaowang" that the Type 055 missile destroyer is the largest, most advanced, and most capable destroyer in the history of the People's Navy. Its commissioning marks the transition of our navy's destroyers from the third generation to the fourth generation.

Dongguan (Image source: People's Navy)

Zhang Junsha: Its core advantages are reflected in two aspects. First, it has outstanding reconnaissance, early warning, and information integration capabilities. Its onboard radar has a long detection range and strong reconnaissance and early warning capabilities, allowing it to simultaneously identify and track hundreds of aerial targets, and it has the ability to command a fleet in air defense operations. The second aspect is its excellent onboard weapon performance, equipped with long-range anti-ship missiles that have a long range and large quantity, and it also possesses long-range land strike capabilities. This means its air defense, anti-missile, anti-surface, and land strike capabilities are all very prominent. It can significantly enhance the navy's offensive and defensive capabilities in distant seas and strongly promote the navy's strategic transformation from near-sea defense to distant sea defense.

In this real combat training, the Dongguan not only had to complete individual ship training tasks such as navigating narrow waterways and damage control but also had to coordinate with other ships in the fleet to conduct joint operations such as maritime assaults, at-sea replenishment, and multi-domain coordinated strikes. Similarly, the Anqing, which also conducted its first real combat training at sea, focused on over a dozen specialized training tasks to hone the troops' ability to carry out diverse missions. As one of the first large destroyers commissioned in the Eastern Theater Navy, the officers and soldiers not only completed the established training tasks but also continuously explored the operational gaps of new equipment.

Officers and soldiers in training (Image source: People's Navy)

Naval officer from Dongguan, Tang Yongguo: I have served on 40 ships, and I can say I have witnessed the evolution from the mechanical era of wrenches and screwdrivers to the cloud computing and networking era. Now I often deal with data and code, and only through continuous learning can I keep up with the development of the navy and the pace of future naval battlefields.

Military commentator Zhang Junsha stated that compared to the previous eight Type 055 destroyers, the newly commissioned Dongguan and Anqing have improvements in performance and weaponry.

Zhang Junsha: First, the superstructure of the hull uses new materials and design concepts. This significantly reduces the radar cross-section of the destroyer, lowers the characteristics of electromagnetic signals, and enhances the stealth performance of the ship. The second aspect is that the ship has been equipped with new radar, which increases the detection range for stealth aircraft, further enhancing reconnaissance, early warning, and information perception capabilities. The third aspect is reflected in improvements to the power system, which provides greater thrust and power, offering stronger power support for the ship. The fourth aspect is that it may carry more advanced missiles, especially hypersonic missiles, allowing for longer strike ranges and greater power. It also reserves space for potentially new weapons that may be equipped in the future.

Since the commissioning of the first ship, the Nanchang, on January 12, 2020, the Type 055 destroyer family has been continuously expanding. In six years, 10 large destroyers have been deployed to the seas, plowing through the deep blue. Zhang Junsha stated that the new large destroyers have made China's aircraft carrier formations more rational and further enhanced combat capabilities.

Training naval formations

Zhang Junsha: The Type 055 large destroyer can also serve as a very capable "sword-bearing escort" for aircraft carriers. It can take on the mission of commanding air defense operations within the carrier group, while also possessing strong anti-ship, anti-submarine, and land strike capabilities, allowing it to fulfill the role of a combatant. After joining the carrier group, it can be said that the carrier group has become more rational. There are also 052C, 052D missile destroyers, and 054A missile frigates, among others, which include air defense, anti-missile, anti-ship, anti-submarine, and land strike capabilities.

Reporter: Ma Jingyu