Chinese language state media has for the primary time launched footage displaying the lengthy vary surface-to-air missile capabilities of Kind 055 class destroyers, with the primary warship of the category, the Nanchang, proven firingHHQ-9 surface-to-air missiles. The footage was taken in the course of the ship’s first air defence and anti-missile mission in March 2021, shortly after the vessel’s service entry in January 2020. 5 missiles had been launched towards take a look at targets, and reportedly demonstrated excessive ranges of accuracy. The footage reveals the missiles chilly launched from the Kind 055’s vertical launch system, with an infrared sensor capturing the second when one of many missiles launched from the bow hit its goal.
Commenting on the Nanchang’s air defence train, Qiao Peng, a member of the destroyer’s crew, acknowledged on the time that the mission issue was equal to a world-class air defence problem. “We had no concept when the goal plane would come – whether or not they would assault concurrently or individually. We additionally needed to monitor the altering developments of greater than a dozen knowledge factors inside seconds. So our biggest enemy was time; we needed to be quick and exact,” he noticed. “Missiles function our warship’s first line of defence. After this live-fire train, we had a lot better confidence when working within the far seas,” he elaborated. Kind 055 class ships are relied on not solely to defend themselves, but in addition defend accompany ships, functioning as wider air defence networks with different destroyers, escorting supercarriers, and protecting hostile anti-submarine warfare property at bay. They will also be deployed to defend land targets to enrich ground-based air defence networks.
HHQ-9 surface-to-air missiles are able to intercepting each manned and unmanned plane, in addition to ballistic and cruise missiles, and have ranges estimated at 300 kilometres. They thus enable every destroyer to regulate an space of airspace over 280,000 sq. kilometres round it. The air defence capabilities of Kind 055 class ships advantages considerably from their outstandingly highly effective sensors and superior knowledge hyperlinks, permitting each onboard and offboard sensors to offer mid-course steerage towards distant faraway targets. On September 3, 2025, the Navy unveiled a more moderen sort of surface-to-air missile, the HHQ-9C, which is reported by native sources to have a better accuracy, longer vary and sooner response time.
The discharge of the footage has beens speculated by some sources to mark the conclusion of the primary main section within the Kind 055 destroyer program, because the final two of the ships, the Anqing and Dongguan, had been earlier in March confirmed to have been introduced into service as a part of a second batch of the vessels. There have been no vital indications that the development of additional ships of the category is deliberate. The Kind 055 class is broadly thought of to have the very best fight potential among the many world’s floor fight ships, with its closest rivals being the South Korean Sejong the Nice class destroyer and Russia’s sole modernised Kirov Class nuclear powered cruiser. Though general extra succesful, the Kind 055’s anti-ballistic missile capabilities are in lots of respects extra restricted than these of U.S. and Japanese Navy Aegis destroyers, which combine SM-3 and SM-6 missiles which can be extremely specialised for such roles.
