Photo: China’s Final Type 055 Destroyer Spotted Preparing for Possible Launch

New reports from Chinese social media platforms Weibo and WeChat reveal that Beijing’s eighth and final Type 055 destroyer may be ready for launch soon, as the stealth guided-missile destroyer was spotted receiving a new paint job at a Dalian shipyard.

The eighth and final Type 055 destroyer in the People Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) first group of the ships was recently seen being painted at a shipyard in Dalian, indicating to many Chinese social media users that the advanced, 12,000-ton vessel will soon be ready for launch.

Lu Li Shih, a former instructor at Taiwan’s Naval Academy in Kaohsiung, explained to the outlet that this has to do with the vessels’ need to overcome potential electromagnetic interference issues.

Sputnik reported back in January that the Nanchang, the first Type 055, had formally entered service approximately two and a half years after its launch. The vessel is the largest destroyer in service anywhere, after the US Navy’s 16,000-ton Zumwalt-class destroyer. However, Washington only has plans for three Zumwalts.

While the Nanchang participated in the PLAN portion of the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China celebration in October 2019, one Chinese military insider told the SCMP that many pieces of equipment, including “including radars, communications and weapons systems and other works – had not actually been finished.”

Observers spotted the second Type 055 heading out from Dalian on sea trials on Friday, signaling that it, too, may soon join the fleet.

A Wednesday report from War Industry Black Technology, a social media platform of the Shenzhen-based company Quantum Defense Cloud Technology, noted that in addition to carrier strike groups, the PLAN will form three amphibious assault groups composed of a Type 075 warship and a high-energy cannon-equipped Type 055 destroyer, according to the SCMP.

Sourse: sputniknews.com