China’s Type 055 Destroyer Achieves 100% Operational Capability

The Chinese Navy’s Type 055 large destroyer Lhasa is reportedly holding its first far sea drills by entering the Sea of Japan, hinting that it has reached full operational capabilities.

“The latest voyage indicates that the Lhasa has reached 100% operational capability, and it can carry out military missions in the far sea as the core of a flotilla,” Wei Dongxu, a Beijing-based military expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF)on Monday spotted a Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) flotilla consisting of three ships - the Lhasa, the Type 052D destroyer Chengdu and the Type 903 replenishment ship Dongpinghu - as they sailed through the Tsushima Strait from southwest to northeast toward the Sea of Japan, Japan's Ministry of Defense Joint Staff said in a press release late on Tuesday.

This was the first time the Lhasa has embarked on a far sea voyage since its commissioning into the PLA Navy in March 2021. Since the start of 2022, the ship has conducted a number of realistic combat scenario exercises in the Yellow Sea, with experts saying then that it was preparing for more important operations soon to come.

Navigating in formation, air defense and anti-submarine could be among training objectives in the drills, which will show that the PLA Navy can safeguard China's strategic interests in the far sea, Wei said.

The Nanchang, the first hull in the Type 055-class, made several far sea voyages in 2021 that saw its flotillas training in the Sea of Japan, approaching the U.S. state of Alaska and circumnavigating Japan almost entirely. As the second ship of the same class, the Lhasa could have similar voyages, observers said.

Wei said with the flotilla led by the Lhasa, the PLA Navy displayed the combat capabilities of its advanced surface vessels, which will serve as a deterrent to "Taiwan independence" secessionist and foreign military interference forces.