South China Sea: PLA Navy sends destroyers on anti-missile, anti-sub drills

Destroyer division including powerful Type 055 Zunyi took part in ‘recent’ exercise, PLA Southern Theatre Command says

Announcement comes a day after end of US-Philippine annual drills, when another PLA flotilla reportedly sailed close to the Philippines’ Sulu islands

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A PLA Navy destroyer takes part in the drills in the South China Sea. Photo: CCTV

Published: 9:00pm, 12 May 2024

A destroyer division from the Chinese navy carried out anti-missile and anti-submarine drills in the South China Sea, the People’s Liberation Army said, as the US and the Philippines wrapped up annual military exercises in the disputed waters.

The Southern Theatre Command – the branch of the PLA that oversees China’s military activities in the area – posted a video of the drill online on Saturday showing what it said were details of the “recent” exercise.

It said the division included the Zunyi, a Type 055 guided-missile destroyer and one of the world’s most powerful such warships.

Other destroyers, including the Haikou, Kunming and Xianning, were deployed in “sea-strike tactical formation”, the command said, ready to strike targets coming from the air, the surface of the water and below it.

“This training focused on elements such as sea warfare, air defence and anti-missile warfare, and anti-submarine warfare,” the command said, without specifying where or when the exercise took place.

The announcement came a day after the end of the annual, large-scale Balikatan military exercise between the United States and the Philippines, which began on April 22.