BEIJING (AP) — China’s increasingly powerful navy launched its most advanced domestically produced destroyer on Wednesday, at a time of rising competition with other naval powers such as the United States, Japan and India.
BEIJING (AP) — China’s increasingly powerful navy launched its most advanced domestically produced destroyer on Wednesday, at a time of rising competition with other naval powers such as the United States, Japan and India.
The first 10,000-ton Type 055 entered the water at Shanghai’s Jiangnan Shipyard on Wednesday morning, the navy said in a statement.
It said the ship is equipped with the latest air, missile, ship and submarine defense systems. China is believed to be planning to produce four of the ships.
“The launch of this ship signifies that our nation’s development of destroyers has reached a new stage, ” the navy said.
A photo on the navy’s website showed multicolored streamers being shot out of tubes while sailors and shipyard workers stood dockside next to a massive Chinese flag. It said the chief of the People’s Liberation Army’s General Armaments Department, Zhang Youxia, presided over the ceremony, in which a bottle of champagne was broken over the ship’s bow.
