Chinese Navy Wargame Sees Advanced Type 055 Destroyer Take on Eight American Combatants

<p >A simulated engagement organised by the China Ship Development and Design Centre (CSDDC) and Huazhong University of Science and Technology projected the consequences of a clash between a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy Type 055 Class destroyer accompanied by two drone boats under its control, and eight U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke Class destroyers. Both destroyer classes are the most capable in their respective fleets, with the Type 055 widely considered by both Western and Chinese sources to be the most capable surface combatant in the world. The engagement saw the Type 055 send its unmanned drone ships forwards to release 32 drones and 14 unmanned boats for an attack, to which the American destroyers responded by launching 32 <a href=" >Tomahawk</a> and LRASM cruise missiles at the Chinese destroyer. It was highlighted that these American cruise missiles cost more than $3 million each. The Type 055 and its accompanying vessels were shown to be able to detect and intercept the threat, while retaining sufficient ammunition to launch a next wave of strikes on the American ships. The simulation highlighted the role of unmanned vessels in forming a low cost “kill web” alongside destroyers, and followed the publication of a paper on the utility of such vessels on January 13 by AI expert Professor Yu Minghui n the Chinese Journal of Ship Research. Yu led the project team that worked on the simulation.</p><p ><img src=" title="U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer" ></p><p >The simulation of an engagement between a Type 055 destroyer and American Arleigh Burke Class ships follows <a href=" by multiple local and U.S. sources in July 2024 that the U.S. Navy and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy engaged in intensive electronic warfare battles surrounding the Second Thomas Shoal of the disputed Spratly Islands. Electronic warfare engagements reportedly lasted a full twelve hours in the northern Philippines, and as a result American warships “faced an unprecedented crisis—screens full of static and a total loss of GPS signals.” The fleet subsequently withdrew due to the serious disruption of communication and navigation capabilities. The U.S. Navy’s electronic warfare equipment was assessed to be a full generation behind that of China, fuelling significant criticisms domestically. Chinese Type 055 destroyers’ missiles, sensors, and the numbers of vertical launch cells carried are all thought top provide an advantage in ship-on-ship engagements alongside their more modern electronics.</p><p ><img src=" title="Chinese Type 055 Destroyer"></p><p >Western concerns regarding the capabilities of Chinese warships, and the Type 055 destroyer in particular, have continued to grow, with a report by the British defence think tank IISS highlighting that the ship class represents “a step change in PLAN [PLA Navy] abilities to mount independent long-range deployments or task-group operations,” and “may be the most capable multi-role surface combatant currently at sea.” Concerns further grew as the Type 055 in April 2022 began being used for <a href=" target="_blank">flight testing</a> of the new YJ-21 anti-ship missile, which provides a significant improvement over the highly capable YJ-18 it currently relies on. The capabilities of Chinese warships has stimulated <a href=" >growing interest </a>in the United States in acquisitions of a <a href=" generation destroyer class</a> to replace the ageing Arleigh Burke Class, although the perceived failure of its two post-Cold War surface combatants the Littoral Class combat ship and Zumwalt Class destroyer has raised questions regarding industry’s ability to develop a new ship with a competitive cost and reliable performance.</p>