First Footage Shows China’s Type 055 ‘Super Destroyers’ Demonstrating Long Range Air Defence Capabilities

Chinese state media has for the first time released footage showing the long range surface-to-air missile capabilities of Type 055 class destroyers, with the first warship of the class, the Nanchang, shown firing HHQ-9 surface-to-air missiles. The footage was taken during the ship’s first air defence and anti-missile mission in March 2021, shortly after the vessel’s service entry in January 2020. Five missiles were launched against test targets, and reportedly demonstrated high levels of accuracy. The footage shows the missiles cold launched from the Type 055’s vertical launch system, with an infrared sensor capturing the moment when one of the missiles launched from the bow hit its target.

Commenting on the Nanchang’s air defence exercise, Qiao Peng, a member of the destroyer’s crew, stated at the time that the mission difficulty was equivalent to a world-class air defence challenge. “We had no idea when the target aircraft would come – whether they would attack simultaneously or separately. We also had to monitor the changing trends of more than a dozen data points within seconds. So our greatest enemy was time; we had to be fast and precise,” he observed. “Missiles serve as our warship’s first line of defence. After this live-fire exercise, we had much greater confidence when operating in the far seas,” he elaborated. Type 055 class ships are relied on not only to defend themselves, but also protect accompany ships, functioning as wider air defence networks with other destroyers, escorting supercarriers, and keeping hostile anti-submarine warfare assets at bay. They can also be deployed to defend land targets to complement ground-based air defence networks.

HHQ-9 surface-to-air missiles are capable of intercepting both manned and unmanned aircraft, as well as ballistic and cruise missiles, and have ranges estimated at 300 kilometres. They thus allow each destroyer to control an area of airspace over 280,000 square kilometres around it. The air defence capabilities of Type 055 class ships benefits significantly from their outstandingly powerful sensors and advanced data links, allowing both onboard and offboard sensors to provide mid-course guidance against remote faraway targets. On September 3, 2025, the Navy unveiled a newer type of surface-to-air missile, the HHQ-9C, which is reported by local sources to have a greater accuracy, longer range and faster reaction time.

The release of the footage has beens speculated by some sources to mark the conclusion of the first major phase in the Type 055 destroyer program, as the last two of the ships, the Anqing and Dongguan, were earlier in March confirmed to have been brought into service as part of a second batch of the vessels. There have been no significant indications that the construction of further ships of the class is planned. The Type 055 class is widely considered to have the highest combat potential among the world’s surface combat ships, with its closest rivals being the South Korean Sejong the Great class destroyer and Russia’s sole modernised Kirov Class nuclear powered cruiser. Although overall more capable, the Type 055’s anti-ballistic missile capabilities are in many respects more limited than those of U.S. and Japanese Navy Aegis destroyers, which integrate SM-3 and SM-6 missiles that are highly specialised for such roles.