First public appearance of the Chinese Nanchang Type 055 destroyer.

During the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the PLA Navy that are taking place in Qingdao, China decided to show off its new stealth destroyer, the Type 055 destroyer, whose name is Nanchang (DDG-101). The main purpose of the Type 055 destroyers is scheduled to be the protection of the Chinese aircraft carriers.

PLAN's first Type 055 Destroyer 'Nanchang' (南昌, with hull number 101), sailed out for its first sea trials on 24 August 2018

The Type 055 destroyers are the largest surface combatant currently being built in the world. The Type 055 Destroyer has a length of 180 meters, a beam of 20 meters and a draft of 6.6 meters for a full load displacement of 13,000t (compared to the US Navy’s Ticonderoga-class cruiser and the Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer both at 9,800 tons or the Royal Navy Type 45 at about 8,500 tons). Their official PLAN designation is "10,000-ton class destroyer." while the US Department of Defense has been calling them "cruisers" since 2017.

First ship of the class, 'Nanchang' was launched on June 28, 2017, at the Jiangnan Changxing Shipyard in Shanghai and the second one was launched in April this year at the same shipyard. Nanchang is expected to be transferred to the PLAN in 2019 provided builders and acceptance trials go smoothly.

In total, eight Type 055 destroyers (including Nanchang) are currently under construction or fitting out in China. In addition to the Jiangnan-Changxing shipyard, construction is also being carried out in Dalian at the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company ( DSIC), which is part of another Chinese state shipbuilding corporation, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC). To date, another destroyer of this type has been completed in Shanghai (it was launched on April 28, 2018) and two more are being constructed at this shipyard. In Dalian, two Project 055 destroyers are at fitting out stage (both were launched simultaneously on July 3, 2018) and two more are under construction.

The current Type 055's weapons fit includes the 130 mm H/PJ-38 main gun capable of firing several types of rounds including guided ones, the H/PJ-11 CIWS with a fire rate of 10,000 rounds/min, the HQ-10 short-range missiles, decoy launchers and torpedoes. All other offensive and defensive missiles are found in the 112 silos of the universal VLS.

These silos are distributed in two places - 64x forward and 48x aft, just in front of the ship's double hangar. They are of the same model as those used on Type 052D, compatible with both hot and cold launch thanks to the Concentric Canister Launcher (CCL) concept. Theoretically, all Chinese missiles whose size does not exceed 9 meters in length and 0.85 meters in diameter can be launched from those VLS cells, provided that the combat system is compatible.

To date, the Chinese navy plans to equip its first few Type 055 with HQ-9B anti-aircraft missiles with a range of 200 km, YJ-18A anti-ship missiles, a new type of medium-range anti-aircraft missile and land attack cruise missiles based on the YJ-18 family, ie, practically the same as those already found on Type 052D destroyers. It is also likely that the new anti-submarine missile Yu-8A is among the ship's arsenal.