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China’s navy puts 2 more advanced Type 055 destroyers into service in push for blue-water fleet
- Anshan and Wuxi take part in night drill, according to state media report
- Vessels expected to play a big part in country’s aircraft carrier strike groups
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The Chinese navy has put two more of one of the world’s most powerful destroyers into service, taking to five the number confirmed as commissioned in the last two years as part of China’s plans to create a blue-water navy.
There was no formal announcement of the commissioning of the Anshan and Wuxi but the Type 055 guided-missile destroyers were reported to have taken part in a night firing and search and rescue exercise with their sister ship the Lhasa, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday.
The Type 055 is regarded as second in power only to the US Navy’s Zumwalt-class stealth ship and the People’s Liberation Army plans to have eight of them in service in a first batch.
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Zhao Shugan, captain of the Wuxi, told CCTV that his crew were being assessed around the clock, with the evaluation starting from the moment they left port and continuing until they docked.
“We must be ready to deal with emergency situations at all times, and immediately raise the level of deployment to deal with sea and air situations once a danger is detected,” Zhao was quoted as saying.
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The report did not say when and where the exercise took place, but photos circulating online indicated that four of the destroyers were in the Yellow Sea last week.
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