“The DDG(X) will use the combat system developed from the Flight III Arleigh Burkes that incorporated the new SPY-6 air search radar, a new application that enables ship commanders to locate and discriminate multiple approaching threats at one time,” USNI News reported.

Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst specialising in Chinese security at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the DDG(X) programme was a clear response to the increasingly powerful Chinese navy.

“More to the point, [it is in response to] the advanced anti-access and area denial (A2AD) systems including the advanced long-range anti-surface warfare capabilities designed to sink US ships now emerging in China.”

He said there were concerns that these anti-access systems were making it more dangerous “and potentially costly” for the US Navy and its allies “to penetrate deeply inside the first island chain and potentially may make it more dangerous to operate inside the second island chain”.

The first island chain is a group of islands running from northern Japan to Taiwan and down to the Philippines; and the second island chain is a strategic group of islands in the middle of the West Pacific Ocean which includes the US military base on Guam.

Davis said that denying such access would make it more difficult for US Navy aircraft carriers to get close enough to be useful in their traditional mission of power projection.

China’s Type 055 is regarded as the second-most powerful destroyer after the US Navy’s DDG-1000, or Zumwalt-class stealth ship.

China’s first Type 055 destroyer Nanchang entered service two years ago, and the second was reported combat-ready on January 11. The third and fourth Type 055 vessels were delivered last year and a fifth is expected to be commissioned in the first half of this year.

China’s Type 052D was designed to match the US Navy Arleigh-Burke class destroyers. The first ship of its class was commissioned in 2014 and in August 2020 the 25th Type 052D was launched.

Michael Fabey, the Americas naval reporter for Jane’s and US editor for Jane’s Fighting Ships, said the DDG(X) had the unique advantage of being able to conduct independent operations.

“[Aircraft] carriers don’t go anywhere without a flotilla of ships, including destroyers, for protection. But, these ships can sail pretty safely alone, unlike a carrier, and therefore gain access into more areas, especially disputed areas or territorial waters of US partners and allies that carriers don’t go to,” Fabey said.

Davis said that another big advantage of the US DDG(X) was its ability to improve the US naval forces’ ability to survive in a dangerous environment in the face of rapidly modernising Chinese A2AD capabilities. Many of the vessel’s more advanced strengths would appear later, he said.

Davis also said that it would be more beneficial for the US to move production of the vessels forward.

“One concern is that this ship won’t start building until the late 2020s at the earliest,” he said.

“I think if the US Navy could build these faster, and move more quickly to integrate in the advanced capabilities sooner, then that would make a lot more sense given the rapid deterioration in the strategic environment.”