China Launches Two New Naval Destroyers

China launched Type 055 and Type 052D guided missile destroyers that could enter military service within the next two years, on Friday. 

The two ships left a flooded dockyard and moored in nearby berths under the assistance of tug boats on Friday morning at the Dalian Shipyard, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, as they wrapped up their successful launches, wenweipo.com reported. 

"After launch, a destroyer will usually take about a year to undergo outfitting procedures to install all kinds of additional equipment to get the ship ready to sail and make it combat-capable. Another year might be needed for it to conduct sea trials to see if everything works properly and make the necessary adjustments," a military expert was quoted as saying by Global Times on Sunday. 

If everything goes well, the two destroyers launched on Friday could enter naval service in about two years, the expert said. 

The Type 055 is China's first 10,000 ton-class guided missile destroyer with a 112-cell vertical launch system, and the smaller Type 052D has 64 vertical launch cells.

The Dalian shipyard launched  China's 19th and 20th Type 052D destroyers on May 10, 2019. The third and fourth Type 055 destroyers were also launched in the shipyard in July 2018.

Shanghai-based Jiangnan Shipyard also builds these two types of destroyers. More warships are expected to be launched in 2020.

"Following the same regular pattern of ship construction, these ships that have been launched in the past two years will likely join the Chinese Navy one by one in the coming one to three years," the expert added.