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| Specifications China's Type 055 Lhasa Class Destroyer |
International Military - China's flagship destroyer, Lhasa, holds its first long sea exercise near Japan. The Lhasa is the most capable destroyer of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy. Commissioned in March 2021, she is the second ship of the Type 055 class to be deployed to the East Sea otherwise known in the West as the Sea of Japan.
Quoted from Military Watch Magazine, this is his first long sea exercise. The ship is one of eight classes that have been launched with two having been commissioned in April. The Type 055 is widely considered to be the most capable surface combatant class in the world.
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Since the beginning of 2022, the Lhasa ship has been conducting several realistic combat scenario exercises in the Yellow Sea. It is also reported to have reached full operational capability.
Quoted from Military-history.fandom.com, the Type 055 ship is expected to carry out expeditionary missions and form the main escort for the Chinese carrier. Meanwhile, the United States classified these ships as cruisers.
The United States Navy defines cruisers as large, multi-mission surface combatants with superior capabilities. This suggests the US expects the Type 055 to fulfill the same role as the Ticonderoga-class cruiser.
In addition, the Lhasa is the second ship of the class which was launched on 28 April 2018 at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai. On 27 January 2021, she was spotted on Hainan Island with hull number 102. The ship was commissioned on 7 March 2021 and assigned to the North Sea Fleet.
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Quoted from Navy Recognition, the ship has a length of 180 m (590 ft 7 in), a width of 20 m (65 ft 7 in), and a draft of 6.6 m (21 ft 8 in). It can reach a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph). Weighing over 12,000 tonnes, the Type 055 is equipped with 112 vertical launch missile cells capable of launching a combination of surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, land attack missiles and anti-submarine missiles.
Propulsion is generated by four 28 MW QC-280 gas turbines in a combined gas and gas arrangement. Additional power can be provided by six 5 MW QD-50 gas turbines and the maximum speed is estimated at 30 knots.