Article Posted on : - Sep 02, 2012

BEIJING (PTI): The Chinese Navy is developing a brand new class of guided-missile destroyer, a "new type" of naval warship with upgraded air-defence missiles, anti-ship and anti-submarine missiles, official media here reported.

The new destroyers are equipped with two 32-unit vertical launch systems capable of launching HQ-9B air-defence missiles, anti-ship and anti-submarine missiles, official media quoted China Military News as saying.

The new destroyer is comparable to the "Aegis" equipped destroyers of the US Navy which use powerful computers and radars to track and guide weapons to destroy enemy targets, it said.

The 160 metre long and 18 metre wide, Type 052D ship is slightly larger than its predecessor, the Type 052C, and is believed to weigh in over 6,000 tonnes, official China.org.cn website reported.

Reports indicate the vessel will use a Type 346 Active Phased Array Radar System and a Type 518 L-band long-range radar, it said.

Chinese Defence Ministry in recent weeks said it tested several new weapons amid claims by the state-run CCTV that DF-41, 14,000 km long-range missile was successfully test fired.

China's first aircraft carrier Varyag is currently undergoing sea trials and expected to be launched in the next few months.

It would accommodate over 30 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.