.jpg) |
| Type 052D LUYANG III class Destroyer |
By Franz-Stefan Gady
A new report by the Office of Naval Intelligence highlights the growing capabilities of the Chinese Navy.
This week, the Pentagon’s Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) released (PDF) an unclassified assessment of the Chinese navy’s new capabilities and missions in the years ahead.
Compared to ONI’s last unclassified analysis on the PLAN six years ago, the more than 300-ship strong Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has “made significant strides in operationalizing as well as modernizing its force,” notes the new 2015 report. Notably different from 2009 is Beijing’s current shipbuilding program, which is now focusing more on the construction of multi-mission vessels rather than anti-surface warfare combatants.
The most striking revelation of the 2015 ONI report is that the PLAN has apparently already equipped a class of guided missile destroyers with China’s most advanced supersonic anti-ship missile. “[T]he newest class, the LUYANG III destroyer is fitted with the new vertically-launched YJ-18 ASCM,” the report says.
Writing last week (see: China's 'New' Carrier Killer Subs), I highlighted that this new weapon constitutes a major threat to U.S. and allied surface vessels deployed in Asian waters. As of now, only one Type 052D Luyang III-class destroyer is currently in service with the vertically launched YJ-18. However, the PLAN plans to commission ten more such vessels by 2017 and also plans to deploy the missile on Type-093G and Type-095 submarines.
Read the full story at The Diplomat