Chinese Shipyard Launches Three ‘ third generation’ Naval Ships on Same Day

China’s Hudong Shipyard launched three warships simultaneously on January 22, including one 054A frigate, one 815G electronic reconnaissance ship, and one 071A amphibious dock landing ship.

This is just a “miniature” of the new warships commissioned into the Navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLAN), said Chinamil, a website of the state-owned PLA Daily adding that the ships have completed the equipment update for the home-made third-generation destroyers and frigates.

Giving an indication of the pace at which the PLAN is commissioning ships, the report said that a new guided missile frigate "Huanggang" was commissioned on January 16, 2015. Earlier, a new guided missile destroyer "Ji'nan" was commissioned on December 22, 2014.

Another new guided missile destroyer "Xi'an" is going to be commissioned to the PLA Navy, and a  new guided missile frigate "Yangzhou" will be commissioned in 2015. In January 2013, three 052C guided missile destroyers had been commissioned successively to a destroyer flotilla located in Zhoushan.

As the third-generation China-made guided missile destroyer of the PLAN, the 052C class is equipped with active phased array radars, and is also called the "China Aegis". Its missile vertical launching system is good at long-range detection and area air defense operation.

A total of six 052C guided missile destroyers were produced for this class. The first ship "Lanzhou" has been put into service in September 2005, and was commissioned to the South China Sea Fleet of the PLAN together with the second ship "Haikou". The other four are all commissioned to the East China Sea Fleet of the PLAN.

The 054A guided missile frigate is the first type of area air defense frigate independently produced by the PLAN. With a full-load displacement of more than 4,000 tons and a strong capability in long-range detection and air defense operation, it is a new-generation main combat warship of the PLAN.