According to recent reports from Japanese media, Japanese military expert Toru Yoshikawa published an article comparing the United States' expensive and technologically advanced 10,000-ton "Zumwalt" class destroyer with the largest destroyer built by China this year, the Type 055, in order to To answer the question that many people are concerned about which of the two destroyers is stronger. The expert pointed out that the "Zumwalt" class has focused on ground attack from the beginning of its design, and its own survivability is guaranteed by unprecedented stealth.
The Chinese Navy's 055 destroyer , which has 112 vertical launch units, is more of a multi-purpose warship with balanced air defense, anti-missile, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons. The Type 055 destroyer is more than 180 meters long, more than 20 meters wide, and has a displacement of 12,000 tons. It is designed to protect the Chinese aircraft carrier and the 075 amphibious assault ship . China launched eight Type 055 destroyers between 2017 and 2020 in a shipbuilding boom that made the Chinese navy the world's largest in terms of number of ships. China has also built three Type 075 amphibious landing ships and launched its third aircraft carrier Fujian in June this year.
It can be considered that the significance of the 055 destroyer is to protect these most important assets of the Chinese Navy. In addition to the Nanchang and Lhasa ships belonging to the Northern Theater Navy or the North Sea Fleet, the third Type 055 destroyer and the Dalian ship were also commissioned in April last year and belong to the Southern Theater Navy or the South China Sea Fleet. The other two ships, Anshan and Wuxi, were deployed to the North Sea Fleet a year later. The "Zumwalt" class was stopped after only three ships were built. The U.S. Navy is still undecided whether its weapon systems and other systems need to be replaced.
China is likely to improve the already dominant Type 055 and produce more, which means that once encountered at sea, the "Zumwalt" class will encounter a large amount of firepower, and its mission of attacking land strategic targets will be difficult to achieve. Because when it fires on land, its stealth cannot guarantee its safety. Perhaps it is precisely because of this that the "Zumwalt" class had to give up its mass production plan. After all, China has a large number of military aircraft, warships and even satellites and drones, making the too expensive "Zumwalt" It is too dangerous to be close to the Chinese coastline.
It is also very difficult for the Type 055 destroyer to perform the task of protecting the Navy's aircraft carrier in the depths of the ocean. The U.S. Navy not only has an advantage in the number of aircraft carriers, but also has a huge advantage in the number and performance of nuclear submarines. In addition, the U.S. Air Force can dispatch strategic bombers such as B-1B to join maritime operations and launch long-range stealth anti-ship missiles in large numbers. Therefore, it does not make much sense to simply compare the combat capabilities of the "Zumwalt" class and the Type 055. They will each face formidable opponents in actual combat. Text/PY
