China Declares Yet Another Type 052D Destroyer Battle Ready as Fleet Expansion Continues Apace

China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy has declared its tenth Type 052D ‘Luyang III’ class destroyer combat ready, marking the eighth warship of the class two become operational. Two dozen of the warships have been launched so far, although only a fraction of theses have completed fitting and sea trials and entered frontline service. The warships will serve as a lighter complement to the heavier Type 055 Class destroyers, and the two ship classes displace 7,500 tons and 14,000 tons respectively. The Type 052D first entered service in 2014, and have since 2017 been manufactured at a fast growing rate. Eight Type 052D Class ships were launched in 2019 alone, alongside two ships of the larger Type 055 Class.

The Type 052D Class ships are prized for their access to a wide range of advanced cruise and surface to air missile systems, the very same as those deployed by the Type 055, which provide a considerable firepower advantage over rival platforms in Japan, the United States and elsewhere. Both destroyer classes deploy a similar canister type vertical launch system (VLS) and a flat panelled active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar - technologies pioneered by the Type 052D Class. The Type 052D deploys 88 vertical launch cells, a very heavy payload for a destroyer of its size with many much heavier modern ship classes such as the British Type 45 Class deploying under 50 cells. It its the capabilities of its missiles, however, which puts the Type 052D Class ahead of the competition.

24 of the Type 052D Class’s launch cells are reserved exclusively for HHQ-10 surface to air missiles, with the remaining 64 capable of deploying a variety of air defence, anti ship and anti submarine munitions. Most notable among theses are the HHQ-9 long range surface to air missile and the YJ-18 anti ship cruise missile - the latter which was unrivalled globally until the induction of the Russian Zicron in December 2019 and benefits from a 540km range and Mach 3 impact speed. For enhanced survivability the Type 052D further deploys HQ-16 and quad packed DK-10A surface to air missiles, which alongside the HHQ-10 and HHQ-9 provide an unrivalled four layered air defence network. This is further complemented by close in weapons systems. With a fleet of over two dozen Type 052D Class ships, complemented by the Type 055 and even more capable future destroyer and cruiser classes expected to enter service, China’s Navy today retains capabilities above and beyond all competition other than the U.S. Navy - and is on course to surpass the capabilities of the American surface fleet some time before 2030.