China’s PLA Navy launches new electronic intelligence ship
The vessel, delivered to North Sea Fleet combat support flotilla based in Qingdao, one of nation’s six electronic reconnaissance ships
China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy has launched a new electronic reconnaissance ship, state media said on Thursday, the latest addition to an expanding fleet.
The announcement comes as Beijing’s new assertiveness to territorial claims in the South China Sea fuels tensions.
The PLA Navy now operated six electronic reconnaissance vessels, the English-language China Daily newspaper said, noting that the PLA “has never made public so many details about its intelligence collection ships”.
Last year, the PLA Navy commissioned 18 ships, including missile destroyers, corvettes and guided missile frigates, the newspaper said.
China has also said it is building a second aircraft carrier. China’s only carrier is the second-hand, Soviet-built Liaoning, which unsettled neighbours on Wednesday when it sailed through the Taiwan Strait when returning from exercises in the South China Sea.
