By Zachary Keck
On Friday, the PLAN commissioned the Kunming, the first of its new Type 052D-class of DDGs.
China officially commissioned the lead ship in its new class of destroyers, state media reported on Friday (h/t Defense Industry Daily).
A short report and accompanying slideshow on some of China’s largest official media outlets states: “A guided missile destroyer was delivered and commissioned to the People’s Liberation Army Navy on Friday. The warship ‘Kunming’ with hull number 172, was officially handed over at a ceremony held at the port of Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) CO., Ltd in Shanghai. The warship belongs to the new generation of China-made guided missile destroyers and has a strong capacity for regional air defense and naval warfare.”
The Kunming is the lead ship in China’s new Type 052D class of guided-missile destroyers (DDG). It was first launched in the summer of 2012, at which time James Holmes and Toshi Yoshihara noted on The Diplomat: “The PLAN may have found its premier surface combatant.” Defense Industry Daily notes that 6 Type 052D vessels will be launched by 2015, with 12 expected by 2018.
Read the full story at The Diplomat