The Type 055 destroyer Lhasa is the second and newest ship of the class and a next-generation ship with stealth features design.
It embarked on the West Sea of Japan, where it will join its first sea exercises far from China's coasts. The People's Liberation Army Navy is adding more ships and is the largest navy in the world, surpassing the US Navy.
Is the Chinese Lhasa Better Than the US Arleigh-Burke Class?
This destroyer is one of eight ships to be launched, and another two were commissioned last April but are not fully operational yet. Another four are undergoing sea trials, reported Military Watch Magazine.
Sources indicate that more ships of the class might be built, although some speculation says that plans for a better destroyer are in the works to replace it, cited the Global Times.
Many think Type 055 is one of the best surface combatants in service with any navy. The British think tank IISS pointed out that the PLAN destroyer is capable enough for long-range missions and task-group operations.
Since the beginning of 2022, the ship has taken part in several realistic combat scenario exercises held in the Yellow Sea, which is fully operational now.
Features, Capabilities of the Lhasa
The Type 055 destroyer Lhasa displaces from 12,000 to 13,000 tons, equipped with lethal armament like 112 vertical launch cells (VLS). Radar is a dual-band system that the USN failed to add to the discontinued Zumwalt Class destroyer, noted Navy Recognition.
The PLAN wanted to design a warship different from that made by the west, Japan, and Russia they had in service. Earlier Chinese ships were capable, but the Type 055 is where lessons were learned to come together to have a modern warship with everything it needed.
Incorporating a 122 vertical launch system (VLS) that exceeds even the Arleigh-Burke ships and a radar tracking system.
The west will witness one of the few ships except for a few in the Russian Navy; it fired a brand new hypersonic missile launched from the Chinese destroyer's VLS silos last April.
Its four-layered surface-to-air missile network, coupled with advanced stealth capabilities, comes on top of any other production destroyer worldwide.
Stealth has become important for any warship in its design; the 055 has this in mind to make it an exception and more modern than other ships.
Lhasa, a Threat to the US Navy
For the US Navy, before the PLAN commissioned the new destroyer, the US Arleigh Burke was the top dog, and its cold war era design was competent.
The introduction of the new destroyer class caused the US Navy to take a step back and think about what to do; the older US destroyer became obsolete even with upgrades.
Hopes that DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class destroyer program would pan out failed, and the US desperately needs a better design to keep up with the Type 055. The tensions in the Indo-Pacific and East Asia highlighted the value of the PLAN's new warship.
The presence of the Type 055 destroyer Lhasa in drills outside China means it can join battle groups going farther; worse off is the USN scrambling to have an equivalent warship in a short time.
