Chinese Navy's Type 055 Destroyer Wuxi Passes Three-Day Combat Assessment Exercise Involving Air Defense, Anti-Submarine, And Electronic Warfare Operations

On March 27, 2023, the Military Enthusiasts World YouTube channel posted a report about the PLA Navy's Wuxi Type 055 destroyer passing its combat-ready assessment. The three-day assessment was held by a naval training center belonging to the PLA Navy's Northern Theater command and involved comprehensive air defense, anti-submarine, electronic warfare, and search-and-rescue exercises in the Yellow Sea. It is noteworthy that the Wuxi was featured in a video posted on the Haokan Video platform in April 22, 2022, one month after the Type 055 destroyers were commissioned.

Onscreen text: "Recently, the PLA Navy released a video in which five Type-055 10,000-ton destroyers appeared together. 101 Nanchang; 102 Lhasa; 103 Anshan; 104 Wuxi; 105 Dalian."

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Presenter: "Now let's focus on the latest news of the domestically-produced Type 055 destroyer, Wuxi. Since Wuxi was officially commissioned in March last year, it has passed the full training and assessment in just one year to form its combat effectiveness. Recently, a naval training center of the PLA Navy under the Northern Theater Command prepared the warship Wuxi to conduct three consecutive days of maritime training and assessment in the Yellow Sea, including comprehensive air and missile defense and naval attacks in a complex electromagnetic environment."

Narrator: "Docked at the military port in Qingdao, Wuxi suddenly received an enemy situation report and quickly set sail for an area in the Yellow Sea. The complex and changeable weather conditions in the Yellow Sea in spring, with thick fog and gusts reaching level eight, increased the difficulty of Wuxi's assessment in all subjects.

"Upon arriving at the predetermined waters, Wuxi's radar station detected the maritime target, and the officers and soldiers immediately entered combat mode. Wuxi's radar locked on the target and fired continuously from its main gun station, successfully destroying the maritime target.

"At this time, the radar also detected and airborne target approaching. The captain issued an attack order, the secondary gun position quickly hit the air target. At the same time, Wuxi continuously fired several jamming bombs, quickly maneuvered and evaded."

Soldier: "One of our fishing boats has suddenly lost contact. We are now coordinating with the group to conduct a joint ship-aircraft search and rescue mission!"

Narrator: "Just after completing the live fire assessment of the main and secondary guns, a joint ship-aircraft search and rescue subject assessment immediately launched. At the command of the commander, the Wuxi ship's shipborne helicopter took off immediately. With close coordination between the ship and aircraft, the location of the distressed fishing boat was quickly locked onto, and the boat was successfully rescued.

"During the assessment, the Northern Theater Command Naval Training Center coordinated the surface ships, submarines, and fighter jets to engage in confrontation alongside and support Wuxi, allowing it to deal with various emergencies under multiple threats from the surface, underwater, and air."

Li Guoqiang, Chief of Staff of Undisclosed Naval Training Center: "In this assessment, we adhered to the combat effectiveness standard, prioritized difficult and strict assessment, created realistic combat scenarios, strengthened confrontation assessment, and improved the 'back-to-back' real-life combat fit, effectively tested the ship's sustained combat capability and the officers and soldiers' rapid response ability to deal with emergencies."