Type 052B destroyer
The Type 052B is a class of guided-missile destroyers in the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force. The Type 052B was China's first modern destroyer design and the first Chinese design to incorporate true medium-range air defence capability in the form of Russian Shtil-1 surface-to-air missiles.
Two ships - Guangzhou and Wuhan - were begun in 2001 and commissioned in July and December 2004 respectively.
Programme
In the early 2000's, China pursued multiple - and sometimes concurrent - programmes to acquire modern destroyers, purchasing s from Russia and constructing the Type 052B, Type 051C, and Type 052C. These ships also represented steps to develop adequate air defense capabilities by adopting Russian air defense technology.; the 25-km range Uragan on the Sovremenny; the 35-km range Shtil-1 on the Type 052B; long-range area air defense with the 150-km range Rif-M on the Type 051C; and finally the Chinese 100-km range HHQ-9 on the Type 052D.The Type 052B's air defence capabilities were obsolete upon entering service when compared to contemporary American and Japanese designs. Nonetheless it represented a considerable general improvement over previous Chinese warships and was the precursor to later Chinese air warfare destroyers.