PLA navy is boosted with new radar

The latest destroyer is equipped with an air detection and targeting system which matches the US' coveted Aegis

The Chinese navy is equipping its latest destroyers with radar that has a similar capability to the US Aegis system, despite American efforts to stop the spread of the advanced technology.

The development will allow the People's Liberation Army navy to simultaneously detect and track airborne targets, making US aircraft carriers less of a threat in the event of a war with Taiwan.

The addition of the radar, and a vertical launch system that allows rapid firing of missiles, to the Type 052C destroyers, marks a significant advance in capability for the PLA navy. It is also an irritating development for Taiwan, which has been trying for years to buy Aegis technology from the US.

The navy's achievement in developing and building an advanced warship on its own is significant, experts said, adding the quality gap with the US navy had narrowed slightly. Until now, the Chinese navy has had to make do with imported Soviet-era designs and some outdated ships developed locally.

Photographs have been posted on mainland Internet sites showing a Type 052C destroyer, with hull number 170, being fitted with the phased-array radar system in a Shanghai shipyard. The photographs have been authenticated by US, Taiwanese and Hong Kong military experts.

'The pictures do seem to show a superstructure being constructed to accommodate this [Aegis] type of system,' said Bernard Cole, professor at the US National Defence University in Washington. He said the radar would be a significant step towards increasing China's shipboard anti-aircraft warfare capability.