China’s navy has commissioned a new-generation frigate as competition rises with the US and other regional powers, saying the ship will “play a vital role in enhancing the overall combat effectiveness” of its forces.
The country already has the world’s largest navy in terms of number of hulls, although its technology is sometimes seen as lagging.
Its largest competitor, the US, has warned its Navy could be outnumbered and has called for a building programme as well as reforms to put damaged ships into action sooner.
China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) operates mainly in waters off the Chinese east coast and in the strategically crucial South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety.
A key mission also remains backing up the army in any attack on Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy about 100 miles off the Chinese coast that Beijing has vowed to annex by force if necessary.
The first Type 054B frigate, christened the Luohe, was commissioned on Wednesday in Qingdao, a port city in northern China where the PLAN’s northern fleet is based.
The ship has a displacement of approximately 5,000 tonnes and includes stealth technology, combat command systems and firepower integration, “significantly enhancing overall performance”, the navy said.
“With strong capabilities for comprehensive combat operations and diverse military missions, the warship will play a vital role in enhancing the overall combat effectiveness of naval task forces,” it added.
The Luohe’s armaments include a variety of machine guns for close combat and anti-air and anti-ship missiles, according to defence publications, some of which say the ship could become the backbone of the Chinese navy.
The statement said nothing about future 054Bs, but at least two more are believed to have been launched and another is under construction.
China has around 234 warships compared to the US Navy’s 219, including around 50 frigates and the same number of destroyers. China has two operating aircraft carriers and another undergoing sea trials, along with a massive and powerful coast guard.
Recent wargames have shown China would lose many more vessels in a simulated clash with the US, but would be able to absorb the losses and continue fighting.
The PLAN has also sent ships further abroad including the Mediterranean Sea and the Caribbean in its attempts to use its navy as an extension of its growing economic and diplomatic clout.
PLAN and Chinese coast guard ships have also patrolled in the East China Sea, where China claims a group of uninhabited islands controlled by Japan.
While planes and ships from both sides have come into contact, no shots have been fired during such incidents.
The US and other nations have deliberately sailed close to islands, some of them human-made, to challenge China’s claim to them.
Beijing has ignored a UN-backed court’s ruling that threw out most of China’s territorial claims.
