People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Destroyer and Frigates conduct high-sea training

: Posted On Saturday, 02 February 2013 11:30

Naval Forces News - China

People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Destroyer and Frigates conduct high-sea training

A ship formation of the Navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) sailed to the West Pacific Ocean to conduct regular high-sea training on the eve of the Chinese Spring Festival. The ship formation is composed of the “Qingdao” guided missile destroyer, the “Yantai” guided missile frigate and the “Yancheng” guided missile frigate of the North China Sea Fleet of the Navy of the PLA, and all the three ships are home-made warships.

PLAN (Chinese Navy) “Qingdao” guided missile destroyer, Type 052 Luhu-class
(picture: Chinese Internet)

The “Qingdao” guided missile destroyer is known as a “diplomatic star” ship in the Navy of the PLA. As a home-made second-generation guided missile destroyer, the “Qingdao” ship has participated in 50-odd major combat readiness and exercise tasks including the escort mission in the Gulf of Aden, and visited 19 ports of 17 countries on behalf of the Navy of the PLA for five times since its commissioning in 1993. In 2002, as the commanding ship of a ship formation, the “Qingdao” guided missile destroyer sailed across three oceans and five continents, crossed the equator for six times, successfully completing an around-the-world tour, the first of its kind in the history of the Navy of the PLA, covering 33,000 nautical miles in 132 days.

PLAN (Chinese Navy) "Yantai" Frigate, Type 054A class
(picture: Chinese Internet)

The “Yantai” and “Yancheng” guided missile frigates are sister ships and also China’s latest-type guided missile frigates, and each of them has a mighty and splendid body. The two ships were delivered to the North China Sea Fleet of the Navy of the PLA in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Due to their advanced weaponry and equipment and optimized body design, the two frigates realize information resource sharing and comprehensive weaponry control, and have various operational functions, such as anti-ship, anti-aircraft, anti-submarine and fire support to the coast, thus currently they are the warships with a higher modernization level in the Navy of the PLA. The “Yantai” ship took part in the escort operations in the Gulf of Aden several months later after its commissioning. The “Yancheng” ship participated in live-ammunition exercises and oceangoing tasks in the first year of its service.

PLAN (Chinese Navy) "Yancheng" Frigate, Type 054A class
(picture: Chinese Internet)

In terms of volume and weight, the “Qingdao” ship is a little bit “heavy-set”. It has a length of 144 meters, a width of 15.6 meters, a full-load displacement of 4,800 tons and a maximum speed of 32 knots. The “Yantai” ship and the “Yancheng” ship have a length of 134 meters, a width of 16 meters and a full-load displacement of 4,050 tons.

From: Chinese Ministry of National Defense