Type 052D guided-missile destroyer Lishui (Hull 157) attached to a flotilla under the Chinese PLA Navy maneuvers to the designated training area on November 11, 2024. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by ...

The Master 'PLAN': China's New Guided Missile Destroyer China’s navy appears on the verge of creating a new class of warship. It could eventually alter the balance of naval power in the region.

It also has a strong anti-submarine capability, so it is much more able to protect aircraft carrier battle group than the Type-052D destroyers currently in service which carry only 64 missiles.

In May, military experts spied a peculiar, half-built vessel sitting among warships at a Shanghai dockyard. Satellite images showed it had the shape and size of a Type-052D, an advanced guided ...