PLA delivers two guided-missile destroyers to the East Sea Fleet

The People's Liberation Army Navy has recently commissioned its ninth and 10th Type 055-class guided-missile destroyers, delivering them to the East Sea Fleet.

According to information published by the Navy, the two new vessels – CNS Dongguan and CNS Anqing – have recently been delivered to two destroyer squadrons and have taken part in combat exercises in the East China Sea with other ships.

Before them, eight Type 055 destroyers had been commissioned to the North Sea Fleet and South Sea Fleet, acting as flagships of several destroyer squadrons.

Developed and built by China State Shipbuilding Corp, the Type 055 is the country's most powerful generation of guided-missile destroyer class.

It has a displacement of more than 12,000 metric tons and is equipped with new types of air-defense, missile-defense, anti-ship, anti-submarine, and land-attack weapons.

The vessel has a total of 112 vertical launching cells capable of firing various kinds of missiles, including the nation's long-range cruise missiles. Its firepower is believed to be double that of the Type 052D class, the largest and mightiest surface combatant in the PLA Navy before the Type 055.

The Type 055 is often deemed a class of cruiser outside China because of its large size and heavy displacement. Western analysts have said it is around 180 meters long and 21 meters wide, based on satellite images, speculating that the vessel displaces about 13,000 tons of water, comparable to that of the United States' Ticonderoga-class cruiser.

The first in this class, CNS Nanchang, made its public debut at a sea parade in April 2019 at the 70th anniversary of the PLA Navy's founding. It was commissioned in January 2020.