China sends 7 naval vessels for Joint Sea 2013 drill

China has sent a fleet of seven naval vessels to participate in Sino-Russian joint naval drills. The fleet consists of four destroyers, two escort vessels and a supply ship.

Four missile destroyers will join the Sino-Russian military exercise in Peter the Great Bay.

The Shenyang, is a new generation of guided missile destroyers, which are independently developed by China. It was launched in December 2004 and began service under the PLA Navy North Sea Fleet in 2006. The Shenyang, is designed mainly to provide air defense for a fleet against air attack. And it also retains reasonable anti-surface and anti-submarine capability.

The Shijiazhuang, launched in January 2007, is the same model as the Shenyang. It has a full displacement of 6-thousand 6-hundred tons. The ship was equipped with advanced anti-missile air defense and anti-ship missile systems. The ship is capable of detecting and attacking long-range targets.

As the main force of South Sea fleet, the Wuhan, has a full displacement of 7-thousand 5-hundred tons.

This class features a stealthy hull and significantly improved air defense systems. It successfully completed the escort mission off waters of Somalia in 2008 and 2011.

The Lanzhou, is a class of destroyer independently designed and developed by China. Its displacement capability is 7-thousand tons. It features an active electronically scanned array radar system with four statically-mounted antennas for 360-degree coverage.

The four missile destroyers will be escorted by the Yantai and the Yancheng vessels. They will also be accompanied by a large comprehensive supply ship, the Hongzehu.