Chinese Type 055 Destroyer Demonstrates New Hypersonic Anti-Ship Capability with YJ-20 Ballistic Missile

Chinese state media outlets have for the first time published live footage of a YJ-20 hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missile in flight, including its launch from the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Type 055 class destroyer Wuxi, on December 28. The missile was launched in an apparent show of force that may have been intended to test various aspects of its performance, and was ejected from one of the vertical launch cells located in the aft section of the destroyer. Footage clearly showed the use of a cold-launch system to eject it out of the cell before engine ignition. The YJ-20 was first confirmed to have begun flight testing at sea in April 2022, and in November that year saw an air-launched derivative, designated the YJ-21, unveiled as a new armament for H-6K bombers. 

The development of the YJ-20 has in many respects had the greatest impact for the People’s Liberation Army’s overall anti-shipping capabilities of all its new anti-ship missile types, as its highly compact design can be accommodated in the vertical launch cells of both Type 052D and Type 055 class destroyers, as well as in the cells of both nuclear and diesel-electric powered attack submarines. Its service entry has thus revolutionised the anti-shipping capabilities of all these kinds of warships, with the ability of destroyers to carry several dozen of the missiles allowing a single smaller Type 052D class destroyer to potentially sink entire fleets. The missiles are much longer ranged, faster, and more difficult to intercept to intercept than the preceding YJ-12, and YJ-18 anti-ship cruise missiles, while striking with significantly more energy. 

The YJ-20 has a cruising at speed of over Mach 6, a Mach 10 terminal speed, and a 1,500 kilometre range, and is considered the most capable ship-launched anti-ship missile type in the world. The ability to evade enemy air defences and cause tremendous damage with the sheer kinetic energy of its impact makes it a particularly significant threat to U.S. Navy carrier groups. Only the Russian Zircon has remotely comparable capabilities, although the Chinese missile’s range and terminal speed are still superior. The latest test has occurred shortly after a Pentagon report provided new insight into how the Chinese People’s Liberation Army could utilise its missile, anti-space and cyber assets to sink even the newest and most capable U.S. Navy carrier groups, with its report particularly highlighting the potency of new types of hypersonic missiles like the Y-20. 

The Type 055 class gained significant publicity in early December after one of the warships, the Nanchang, was deployed alongside two smaller Type 052D class destroyers to escort the aircraft carrier Liaoning for operations near Japanese waters. Displacing 13,000 tons fully loaded, and carrying 112 vertical launch cells for cruise and surface-to-air missiles, they are among the largest and most heavily armed surface combatants in the world, and integrate some of the world’s most advanced missile types. The integration of a dual band radar system similar to the SPY-3/SPY-4, which the U.S. Navy had intended but failed to integrate onto the Zumwalt class destroyer, provides a particularly high degree of situational awareness, including over-the-horizon detection capabilities. A 2020 report by the British defence think tank IISS highlighted that the Type 055 represented “a step change in PLAN [PLA Navy] abilities to mount independent long-range deployments or task-group operations,” and “may be the most capable multi-role surface combatant currently at sea.” Other assessments consistently reached similar conclusions even before the unveiling of the YJ-20 significantly further enhanced the class’ long range engagement capabilities.