10 Type 055 destroyers in formation — China's navy now possesses the world's largest cruiser fleet!
This is the 108 "Xianyang" ship, a Type 055 10,000-ton missile cruiser of the Chinese Navy. With its 130mm main gun blazing, it fires broadside at the nine o'clock position, evoking the classic line-of-battle tactics from the era of gunpowder warships.
Correct — the Type 055 is essentially a missile cruiser (CG). The U.S. Navy’s ship classification manual explicitly labels it as such. However, our military modestly refers to it as a missile destroyer.
Currently, only China, the United States, and Russia possess missile cruisers. The Russian Navy currently operates one nuclear-powered Kirov-class heavy cruiser and two Slava-class missile cruisers — relics from prehistoric times, these are outdated sea behemoths whose weaponry and combat capabilities are so obsolete they could be sunk by a cigarette butt. The U.S. Navy still maintains seven Ticonderoga-class missile cruisers, but these are being rapidly decommissioned and will all be retired by 2030.
As a result, only the Chinese Navy now has the world’s most capable and largest missile cruiser fleet. So far, two batches totaling 10 Type 055s have entered service, with four more under construction and set to join soon, followed by two additional units planned for future construction. By 2030, the fleet will ultimately reach a total of 16 ships.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1875360297365580/
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