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Will China upgrade its destroyers with ‘carrier killer’ missiles?
- A group of multi-role surface combat ships are being fitted and expected to be able to fire a wide range of weapons
- Hypersonic anti-ship cruise missiles are one possibility, observers say
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China’s Type 055 guided-missile destroyers have the potential to be refitted with “aircraft carrier killer” missiles but the weapons would have to be lighter and smaller than existing land-based technology, observers said.
The assessment comes as the military nears the end of another phase in its massive naval expansion programme.
The eighth and final Type 055 was launched in Dalian, Liaoning province, at the end of last month, meaning that its structure is complete and it is in the process of being fitted with equipment.
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The first in the series has been commissioned and the others are also being fitted out.
The 12,000-tonne warship is considered the one of the world’s most powerful multi-role surface combat ships, because it can be fitted with various armaments including anti-ship cruise missiles, surface-to-air missiles, anti-submarine weapons and land-attack cruise missiles.
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But there has been speculation that future destroyers could be upgraded to a new “Type 055A” variant or even an entire new class produced capable of firing “carrier killers”.
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