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.
