According to fresh information, China is constructing at least six additional guided-missile destroyers as part of its effort to establish a fleet that can compete with America’s.
Five of the hulls of the Luyang III-class Type 052 destroyer are now being built at the state-owned Dalian Shipyard in Liaoning province, northeast China, according to pictures posted on the Chinese social networking site Weibo.
According to the defence website Naval News, at least one additional Type 052 destroyer is being constructed at the Jiangnan Changxing shipyard, northeast of Shanghai.
The 25 Type 052 destroyers now in China’s navy will be joined by the six destroyers, which are equipped with tactical cruise missiles and torpedoes.
The six Type 052 destroyers are not being built, according to Beijing.
However, Chinese experts told the Community Party daily Global Times that given Beijing’s desire to modernise its military by 2035, “it is not surprising if China is truly developing more sophisticated warships, especially with the present tumultuous global security environment.”
With the most ship hulls in the world, China’s navy now holds the title of greatest naval force.
2017 photo shows a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 052D destroyer escorting the Liaoning aircraft carrier as it entered Hong Kong territorial waters via the Lamma Channel.
Compared to the US Navy’s 490 and the UK Royal Navy’s 73 vessels, China’s armed forces have a total of 777 warships. However, the US has 92 destroyers in total, more than China (41), and six more than the UK.
The Type 052 destroyer, also known as the Luyang III-class, has 64 vertical launch systems for surface-to-air missiles, a rocket-propelled torpedo, and tactical cruise missiles, demonstrating the increasing complexity of Chinese warships.
The Type 052D, which has a 130mm main cannon as well, is compared to the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers used by the US Navy.
The destroyers are a component of China’s military buildup intended to prevent an outside intervention in the event that Taiwan, the independent island Beijing claims as its own and has threatened to conquer by force, is attacked.
The United States, which supplies Taiwan with defensive armaments and is constitutionally compelled to regard threats to the island as issues of “grave concern,” as well as its treaty allies, the most significant and closest in proximity being Japan, would virtually likely become involved in such a fight.
It comes following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to China last month, which prompted China to conduct its largest-ever military drills near Taiwan. Beijing was furious over the trip because it saw it as an effort by the US to meddle in Chinese domestic matters.
China said in March that it will increase defence expenditure this year by 7.1%, putting the total at 1.45 trillion yuan ($211.62 billion), however many analysts believe that is not the actual amount; the government denies this claim.
For more than a decade, China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy, or PLAN, has been upgrading to transform into a more “blue water” force—one that can operate anywhere in the world as opposed to being constrained to staying near to the Chinese mainland.
Beijing unveiled the Type 003 carrier, a new generation of aircraft, in June, marking a significant milestone for the nation since it is the first ship of her kind to be both developed and constructed in China.
Beijing wants to transform its navy, which is currently the biggest in the world, into a multi-carrier force. As such, it is seeking to equip its fleet with the newest armament and aircraft-launch technologies.
The Type 003 uses a catapult launch, which according to analysts seems to be an electromagnetic-type device similar to one first created by the U.S. Navy.
The employment of a catapult implies that the ship will be able to launch a wider variety of aircraft, which is important for China to be able to project naval force at a longer range. Such a method puts less strain on the aircraft than previous steam-type catapult launch systems.
China has been maintaining its military operations close to Taiwan, but on a smaller scale.
Fujian officials announced a no-sail zone on Wednesday and said live-fire exercises will take place on Friday and Saturday in a coastal area of China’s Fujian province, just north of the small Taiwanese-controlled Wuchiu islands in the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan is attempting to match China’s investment in cutting-edge technology, such as stealthy fighters and aircraft carriers, by investing more effort into weaponry like missiles that can strike well into the territory of its enormous neighbour.
China hasn’t ruled out using force to seize control of the island. Beijing’s claims of sovereignty over the island are rejected by Taiwan, which maintains that only the people of Taiwan have the power to make such decisions.