The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy will deploy new Type 055 Destroyer.

According to some pictures released on the Chinese social media Weibo, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is preparing to deploy a new, stealthy, heavily armed high-tech class of Type 055 destroyer intended to offer sea attack, air defenses and wartime support to carrier strike groups.
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Chinese Type 055 destroyer NANCHANG 101 commissioned Sun 12 Jan at Qingdao. (Picture source: Weibo)

The Type 055 destroyer is a class of stealth guided missile destroyers being constructed for the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force. It is a multi-mission design; the combination of sensors and weapons suggests the main role of area air defence, with anti-submarine warfare capabilities surpassing previous Chinese surface combatants.

It has been suggested that future variants may be armed with lasers or electromagnetic railguns. Analysts predict Type 055 has variants that will use full electric propulsion in the future, which could enable more optimized power distribution and realize the usage of high-energy weapons.

The new destroyers are designed to adopt modern air-air warfare, anti-missile, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapon systems to complement China’s future carrier strike groups. Type 055 is expected to undertake expeditionary missions and form the primary escort for Chinese aircraft carriers.

China plans to have a fleet of 8 Type 055 destroyers- while five are already either been built or are under construction, three more are planned to be constructed.

The Type 055 destroyer in dry dock. (Picture source: Weibo)