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Destroyer photos offer clues about Chinese navy’s growing fleet
- Social media images show five large ships – possibly Type 052D destroyers – under construction at what appears to be a state-owned shipyard
- China’s navy has commissioned more warships than any other country in recent years
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The Chinese navy appears to be continuing its shipbuilding spree amid military tensions in the region, according to photos of new destroyers circulating on social media.
Images posted to Weibo show five large ships under construction at the same dry dock, which appears to be at the state-owned Dalian Shipyard in Liaoning province. At least two of the hulls look like those of guided-missile destroyers.
With extended helicopter decks in the back, the pair resemble 052DL ships – the “stretched” variant of the Chinese navy’s Type 052D destroyers.
Three other ships at the dock are in an earlier phase of construction but look to be similar in size and shape to the first two.
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The Chinese navy has commissioned more warships than any other country in recent years, making it the world’s largest navy by number of ships. But it still falls behind the US Navy in terms of total displacement, and many of its ships need to be modernised.
The Type 052D was first introduced in 2014, and 25 of the vessels are now in service. In addition to the ships under construction in Dalian, at least one other Type 052D is being built at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai.
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The Type 052D, equipped with its own integrated electronic weapons system, is a peer to the US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. The US Navy operates 70 Arleigh Burke ships.
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