World’s Most Dangerous Surface Combat Warships: From Japan’s Maya Destroyer to Russia’s Kirov Battlecruiser

Surface combatants form the core of almost all major navies in the world today, and are responsible for a wide range of roles from air defence to anti submarine warfare and in some cases even defence against strategic nuclear attacks. Combatants fielded by leading naval powers have generally been heavier, better armed and integrated larger and more sophisticated sensor suites. These have been arranged into strike groups or battle groups, either surrounding a carrier or assault ship or around some other form of flagship to benefit from the synergy of complementary platforms operating in unison. The most powerful surface ship classes today are destroyers and cruisers, the latter which are fielded exclusively by Russia and United States and have not been built anywhere in the world since 1994, when the last American Ticonderoga Class cruiser was completed. Among the new technologies which have set world leading surface combatants apart from their competitors are dual band radars, multirole vertical launch systems, stealth hulls, and sophisticated munition types such as sea skimming or even hypersonic cruise missiles. Modern vertical launch systems have played a particularly important role in allowing ships to not only deploy more firepower, but also to improve their versatility and employ multiple types of missiles for a range of roles. A ranking and evaluation at the most capable surface combatants in the world today its given below. 

Type 055 Class, China

China’s first Type 055 Class destroyer, the Nanchang, was commissioned into the People’s Liberation Army Navy in January 2020. Seven more are expected to join the fleet before the middle of the decade, the last of which completed construction in late August. Following on from the deadly Type 052D Class, the Type 055 is set to serve as an escort to China’s fast growing fleet of carrier warships to form at least four strike groups by 2025. The 2020 report of the International Institute of Strategic Studies referred to the platform as one which “may be the most capable multi-role surface combatant currently at sea,” representing “a step change in PLAN [PLA Navy] abilities to mount independent long-range deployments or task-group operations.” A number of features distinguish the Type 055 from rival destroyer designs, including a very stealthy hull surpassed only by the American Zumwalt Class in radar evading capabilities, a powerful dual band radar and a four layered surface to air missile system - three layers of which were incorporated into its 112-cell Vertical Launch System (VLS). The warship's YJ-18 ant ship sea skimming cruise missile with a 540km range, and CCY-5 anti submarine missile, are particularly outstanding and have few analogues outside China’s own navy. 

The Type 055 is set to continue to be upgraded over its lifespan, and is reportedly planned to deploy electromagnetic railguns once these systems become available for both anti ship and anti surface operations. With China retaining a significant lead in its railgun technologies, as the first in the world to test such weapons at sea, the new elite destroyer may well be the first to deploy these next generation armaments. A hypersonic cruise missile class, comparable to the Russian Zumwalt Class, and a longer ranged variant of the YJ-18, are reportedly also currently under development. 

Kirov Class, Russia

The largest surface combatant in the world, Russia’s Kirov Class battlecruisers are currently set to undergo extensive modernisation and refurbishment with this already underway on a single ship of the class the Admiral Nakhimov. Even in their current form however, the ships are among the most lethal in the world particularly for ship-to-ship combat. The Kirov’s primary armament is the massive P-700 cruise missile, which weight 7000kg each and of which each cruiser carries 20. The missiles are similar conceptually to the P-270 missiles carried by Russian Sovremenny Class destroyers, which Professor of strategy at the U.S. Naval War College James Holmes described in 2020 as missiles that “give the U.S. Navy fits to this day,” but are much larger and more powerful. The P-700 missiles have a unique guidance mode when fired in salvoes with one climbing to a higher altitude and designating targets for the other attacks - with all missiles connected by data links to form a network. The missiles have large 750kg warheads, impact targets at speeds of around Mach 2 and are highly manoeuvrable making them difficult to intercept. The missiles have a 625km range and can be fitted with nuclear warheads. Even without such warheads, however, they are able to neutralise the large majority of enemy ship classes with a single direct hit due to their sheer size and speed. The P-700's on-board computers carry systems designed to counter an enemy's electronic warfare countermeasures ensuring a high probability of kill.

The Kirov Class cruisers are the only surface combat ships to use nuclear propulsion, which provides a very high endurance and allowing them to maintain high speeds over long periods. The ships deploy 96 launchers, equivalent to 24 transporter-erector launchers, for S-300F air defence systems, and 40 complementary 9K33 short ranged surface to air missiles. For anti-submarine warfare, RPK-2 torpedoes are also deployed. The sheer size of the ships, at 28,000 tons each making them more than twice as large as any destroyer, allows them to integrate an extremely large sensor suite. Once refurbished and modernised, the Kirov Class cruisers will have a significant advantage over rival warship classes, with the size of its sensor suites complemented by more modern technologies, a refurbished bridge and new electronic warfare systems.

The refurbishment process will see the S-300F replaced by a navalised variant of the S-400, meaning the cruisers could have an engagement range of up to 400km against enemy aircraft and an engagement speed exceeding Mach 14. The ships will also replace 20 P-700 launches with 80 launchers for newer and smaller missiles such as the P-800, Kalibr and Zircon, with the last of these entering service late in 2019 and retaining a 1000km engagement range, extreme manoeuvrability and a engagement speed approaching Mach 9. The cruisers’ main outstanding shortcomings, even after modernisation, are their lack of a stealth design comparable to the Chinese Type 055 or American Zumwalt, relatively low levels of automation meaning a larger crew is required, and their high operational costs largely due to their sheer size and nuclear propulsion systems. 

Type 052DL Class, China

Developed with countering the United States Navy’s Arleigh Burke Class destroyers in mind, the first Type 052D Class destroyer was commissioned in March 2014 and represented a major technological leap for the PLA Navy. Not only did the ship’s new H/LJG-346A ‘Dragon Eye’ AESA radar and new sonar systems provide a major boost to situational awareness, but the Type 052D was also the first Chinese ship with a modular vertical launch system. This brought it ahead of European ship classes such as the British Type 45 and allowed it to compete on a similar level to American, Japanese and South Korean surface combatants.  Displacing 8,500 tons each, the warships deploy a wide range of new weaponry including YJ-100 cruise missiles with a 1000km range and an air defence network comprised of HQ-16, HHQ-9, HHQ-10 and DK-10A surface to air missiles and multiple new close in weapons systems. 

The flat panel phased array radar antennae used by the Type 052D is notably different from the convex panel of its predecessor the Type 052C, and represents a new generation of technologies which are also integrated onto the Type 055. The warships field six radars and two sonar systems to provide considerable situational awareness, which between them can detect adversaries over the horizon, under the sea, or near the water’s surface. The Type 052D makes use of liquid rather than air cooled radars, which are reportedly powerful enough to not only detect, but also lock onto, stealth fighters, bombers, missiles and ships at considerable ranges. A further improvement on the Type 052D design came in the form of the Type 052DL Class destroyers, which are notably longer allowing it to accommodate newer Z-20 helicopters and integrate a powerful new meter wave radar which optimised to track airborne stealth targets. This capability is highly valued in light of both the centrality of stealth aircraft to U.S. strategies for war in the Western Pacific such as AirSea Battle, as well as the significant numbers of stealth aircraft being marketed for export by the U.S. and Russia to regional powers.  

Sejong the Great Class, South Korea

The South Korean Navy began to place a growing emphasis on blue water capabilities and power projection oriented heavy destroyers in the early 2000s, with the Sejong the Great Class ships named after the country’s most renowned monarch and today considered the pride of the fleet. The first Sejong the Great Class ship was commissioned in December 2008, and at the time retained a distinct edge over rival designs with each deploying 128 multirole Vertical Launch System (VLS) cells. This represented significantly more firepower than even American cruisers - much less destroyer-sized vessels. Displacing 11,000 tons with a length of 165 meters, the Sejong the Great Class ships were notably better armed but also smaller and less costly than the American Ticonderoga Class heavy cruisers, and until today are widely considered the most powerful warships to integrate the AEGIS combat system. 

South Korea’s defence sector has supplemented the AEGIS system, which includes American made surface two air missiles, with indigenous Hyunmoo III land attack cruise missiles, Hong Sang Eo anti-submarine missiles, Blue Shark torpedoes and Haeseong long range anti ship missiles. These indigenous weapons in many cases outperform their Western and Japanese counterparts, and the very considerable numbers in which they can be deployed makes the Sejong Class a particularly dangerous warship. A notable weakness of the Sejong the Great Class platform, which applies to all AEGIS ships, is in its anti-ship capabilities, with both indigenous missiles and U.S. supplied alternatives all highly restricted in their ranges and impact speeds and failing to follow sea skimming trajectories as complex as their Chinese and Russian rivals such as the YJ-18 and Kalibr missiles. This issue could be amended in future either with the development of a more capable anti-ship missile class for the AEGIS system either indigenously or in the U.S.

Maya Class, Japan 

First commissioned in March 2020, Japan’s Maya Class destroyer displaces 10,250 tons fully loaded and makes use of a new hybrid-electric propulsion system. Like the South Korean Sejong the Great Class, the American Arleigh Burke Class, and multiple preceding classes of Japanese warships, the Maya Class destroyer is built around the AEGIS combat system and deploys the Mk. 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) with multiple classes of surface to air and anti ship missile. The ship uses 96 vertical launch cells, the same number os America’s most advanced class of Arleigh Burke Class destroyers but significantly less than its Chinese or South Korean rivals. Like all Japanese ships, the Maya’s performance is seriously undermined by its lack of land attack cruise missiles such as the Hyunmoo III or Tomahawk, and like all AEGIS ships its anti ship capabilities are also somewhat underwhelming with no comparable designs to the Chinese YJ-18 or Russian P-800, Kalibr or Zircon integrated. This leaves it heavily oriented towards anti submarine warfare and air defence, with the ships deploying a two layered anti missile system comprised of SM-2 and SM-3 platforms - which are later set to be joined by the advanced SM-6. Once integrated, the SM-6 will provide the destroyer with one of the most advanced anti ballistic missile capabilities in the world and will potentially be able to blunt strategic missile attacks from intercontinental ranges. The Maya Class destroyers are also capable of deploying Type 07 anti submarine missiles, and have a limited capacity for up to eight Type 17 anti ship missiles, although the latter are restricted to relatively slow speeds and short ranges.