China's 10,000 ton-class destroyer Nanchang now equipped with long-range missiles.

The guided-missile destroyer Nanchang of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy took part in a naval parade staged to mark the 70th founding anniversary of the PLA Navy on the sea off Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, on April 23, 2019.

The Chinese Navy’s guided-missile destroyer Nanchang at Naval Parade marking the 70th anniversary of PLA (Picture source: Xinhua)

On China's Twitter-like microblogging site Sina Weibo, the PLA Navy also announced that it operates not only vessels but also submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with strategic missile submarines. The missiles are the main battle equipment of the PLA Rocket Force.

Long-range land-attack cruise missiles will allow destroyers to launch more powerful precision strikes on land targets compared to main guns, which have a lower range and are less accurate, the expert said.

As China's first type of 10,000 ton-class destroyer, Type 055 has 112 vertical launch missile cells capable of launching a combination of surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and anti-submarine missiles, according to media reports.

The number of vertical launch missile cells is an important indicator of how powerful a warship is. China's Type 052D destroyer has 64 vertical launch missile cells, which is nearly half that of Type 055. America's Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and Ticonderoga-class cruiser have 96 and 122 respectively.

The Navy's Sina Weibo post did not elaborate on the designation or specifications of the long-range land-attack cruise missile and went on to introduce the Navy's J-10 and J-11 fighter jets that are also operated by the Air Force, as well as Z-8 and Z-9 helicopters, amphibious armoured vehicles and howitzers that are also used by the Army.