Highlights of the Type 055 Destroyer! A Review of Those Moments that Shocked the Nation

Recently, the newly commissioned 055-type destroyers, the Dongguan (Hull 9) and the Anqing (Hull 10), successively went to a certain sea area in the East China Sea to conduct realistic combat training at sea. This not only marks the debut of two new warships but also reflects the continuous expansion of the 055-type destroyer family. From the launch of the first ship to showcasing its capabilities in distant seas, the "055" has created countless impressive moments that have shocked the nation.

On April 23, 2019, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the People's Navy, the Nanchang ship led the surface ship formation and was the first to be reviewed. This was also the first public appearance of the 055-type guided missile destroyer.

On January 12, 2020, the Nanchang ship officially joined the People's Navy with hull number 101.

In April 2021, the Nanchang ship joined the Liaoning aircraft carrier formation for the first time to carry out distant sea training missions. During the mission, two foreign ships, which had been monitoring closely, attempted to cross the formation of the Chinese Navy by making sharp turns while the Liaoning aircraft carrier formation was adjusting its position.

Naval Officer Xu Wenqian from the Nanchang ship: At that time, I could hear the commander continuously giving orders to turn the helm. I had to frequently change our ship's course to prevent them from crossing our formation. I couldn't allow them any opportunity to pass through our formation.

The foreign ships attempted to cross several times but ultimately failed and had to turn away.

At the beginning of 2026, in a certain sea area of the Yellow Sea, the Chinese Navy's first maritime training of the new year commenced. Four 055-type guided missile destroyers—the Nanchang, Lhasa, Anshan, and Wuxi—appeared together, marking that the Chinese Navy has the capability to form multiple task forces of 10,000-ton destroyers to carry out combat missions.

In January of this year, in a certain sea area of the South China Sea, a "back-to-back" free confrontation exercise between submarines and surface ships quietly began. The 055-type 10,000-ton destroyer Zunyi, which was executing reconnaissance and early warning tasks, successfully captured targets and transmitted a large amount of data in real-time, establishing a comprehensive battlefield situational awareness network for the formation. Over nearly a year, the Zunyi has conducted multiple anti-submarine training sessions, continuously refining, researching, and summarizing, achieving phased results in anti-submarine operations.

New equipment such as drone swarms pose severe challenges to the battlefield survivability of surface combatants. In February of this year, in a certain sea area of the Yellow Sea, the 055-type destroyer Lhasa took the lead in establishing a comprehensive anti-drone operational deployment during exercises, promoting the iterative upgrade of new combat capabilities.

Naval Officer Ruan Hongbin from the Lhasa ship: The challenge for us is how to conduct anti-drone operations. We continuously optimize and update from plan formulation, deployment adjustments, to equipment upgrades, creating our own anti-drone system.