China Builds Destroyers Around Imported Technology

摘要

The most impressive new large guided missile destroyers (DDGs) of China's Peoples Liberation Army Navy, or PLAN, are the showcases of new operations and responsibilities beyond traditional coastal roles. The ships' new sensors, missiles and combat systems are main- ly of Russian and Western origin. However, China now is faced with the challenge of operating and maintaining these advanced systems to create a credible threat to foreign navies in Far Eastern waters. This blue-water fleet primarily com- prises ships that have been operational for years, but other more advanced ships are being built and may be deployed as soon as next year. In December 1996, after three years of negotiation, China signed a deal with Russia to purchase two Sovrem-nyi destroyers. They were completed in the St. Petersburg Severnaya Verf Shipyard, with the first ship renamed Hangzhou and given hull number 136 when turned over to a Chinese crew in Russia in January 2000. The Chinese crew had arrived at the shipyard in May 1999 for training.