Type 052D destroyer is a new-type destroyer with the largest number in Chinese navy. Its biggest feature is that it is equipped with improved Haizhixing (“Star of the Sea”) phased array shipborne radar and 64 units of vertical launchers (front 32 units + rear 32 units).
Type 052D destroyer’s vertical launchers are China’s third-generation general-purpose large-scale vertical launchers. It can both cold launch HHQ-9A/B long-range ship-to-air missiles and hot launch YJ-18 anti-ship missiles, as well as land attack cruise missiles as needed.
Chinese navy’s new YJ-18 anti-ship missile is its first long-range anti-ship weapon which achieves a combination of subsonic speed and supersonic speed, as well as a new generation of sea/shore-based universal anti-ship weapon.
HHQ-9A/B long-range ship-to-air missile is the main area air defense weapon system of China’s third-generation “Aegis destroyer”. It uses a cold ejection to lift off missiles, and then fire the missiles after they rise to a certain height.
The outside world believes that the performance of HHQ-9A long-range ship-to-air missile is equivalent to that of the US Navy’s “Standard 2 Block III”, and HHQ-9B is equivalent to “Standard 2 Block Ⅳ” extended-range type.
In addition to defending against manned aircraft or UAVs, HHQ-9A/B also has outstanding capabilities for intercepting cruise missiles/anti-ship missiles.