China’s second Type 055 warship, Lhasa, is combat-ready, state media reports
- The stealth guided-missile destroyer has been taking part in drills and is expected to join the navy’s significant missions later this year
- Chinese military has several more Type 055s – its largest and most advanced destroyers – on the way after shipbuilding spree
The stealth guided-missile destroyer Lhasa has been conducting a series of drills in the Yellow Sea in the past week to test its operational capabilities, state television said.
Eight days of exercises began with radar detection of a target in undisclosed waters and simulating firing to destroy it, according to the report.
Other training included attacks on maritime targets with missiles and artillery, search and attack on submarines, defence against nuclear, biological and chemical weapon attacks, searching and seizure of suspected civilian ships, personnel rescue and damage control.
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“This will contribute to the bolstering of the new ship’s comprehensive ability to fight and accelerate the rapid generation of new-type combat capabilities,” Captain Li Guoqiang, chief of staff at the vessel training centre of the Northern Theatre Command Navy, was quoted as saying.
“We will take advantage of scientific and technological methods to explore new ways of training and set new examples in training with science and tech.”