PLA's Type 055 destroyer to be bigger than US Areligh Burke-class

China's Type 055 guided-missile destroyer currently under construction will be bigger and probably more powerful than the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers of the United States, according to Strategy Page, a US-based website covering global defense issues, on June 28.

With a displacement of 12,000 tonnes, the size of the Type 055 is much closer to a cruiser than a destroyer and the largest surface combat vessel China has ever built, excluding the Liaoning aircraft carrier refitted from a hulk purchased from Ukraine.

Beijing claims the Type 055 equipped with 128 vertical launch tubes would be the equivalent of a US Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer built around the Aegis Combat System. Compared to China's current Type 052D guided-missile destroyer, however, the Type 055 looks more like the real "Chinese Aegis," the report said.

The Type 055 is not only larger than the 8,300-ton Arleigh Burke-class but also surpasses the class in combat capabilities, at least on paper, according to Strategy Page. China began the development of a series of advanced warships dubbed the "Chinese Aegis" back in 2003. Since then, the PLA Navy has commissioned two Type 052B and six Type 052C destroyers.

The country now plans to add six more Type 052D destroyers, five of which have already been built. Only one Type 052D is currently in service. This 7,500-tonne guided-missile destroyer can fire air-defense, cruise and anti-ship missiles from its vertical launch systems. It also has a 130mm gun and six torpedo tubes designed to attack enemy submarines and two close-in weapon systems to counter incoming missiles.