''Hangzhou'' (136) is a Type 956E

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

of the

People's Liberation Army Navy The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN; ), also known as the People's Navy, Chinese Navy, or PLA Navy, is the maritime service branch of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAN traces its lineage to naval units fighting during the Chinese ...

Development and design

The project began in the late 1960s when it was becoming obvious to the Soviet Navy that naval guns still had an important role particularly in support of amphibious landings, but existing gun cruisers and destroyers were showing their age. A new design was started, employing a new 130 mm automatic gun turret. The ships were in length, with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a draught of . The Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force (PLAN) had two modified ''Sovremenny''-class destroyers delivered in December 1999 and November 2000. In 2002, the PLAN ordered two improved versions designated 956-EM. The first vessel was launched in late 2005, while the second was launched in 2006. All four vessels were commissioned to the East Sea Fleet. Project cost: 600 million

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

(mid-1990s price) was the price paid for Project 956A (two ships), and 1.4 billion US$ (early-2000s price) for Project 956EM (two ships).

Construction and career

''Hangzhou'' was laid down on 4 November 1988 and launched on 27 May 1994 by Severnaya Verf in Saint Petersburg. She was commissioned on 25 December 1999. As of 2016, ''Hangzhou'' was reported to be undergoing refit with its original components replaced with domestic systems. In addition to replacement of electronics and sensors, armament upgrades include replacing 2x4 3M80E Moskit anti-ship missiles with 2x4 YJ-12A supersonic missiles, swapping two launchers for 48 SA-N-12 SAMs with 4 sets of 8-cell vertical launch systems totaling 32 cells for

HQ-16 The HQ-16 () is a medium-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) from the People's Republic of China. It is derived from earlier versions of the Russian Buk missile system. Development Development began in 2005, and was reportedly assisted by the Alm ...

C or

Yu-8 The CY-1 (Chang Ying 长缨, ''Long Tassel'', often erroneously referred as ''Chian Yu'', 剑鱼, or ''Swordfish'') is a Chinese anti-submarine rocket carried on a variety of surface platforms, including the Luda class missile destroyers and Jia ...

anti-submarine missiles and adding a 24-cell FL-3000N short-range anti-air missiles. On 29 March 2021, '' Taizhou'', ''Hangzhou'' and ''

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

'' of the East Sea Fleet conducted a live firing exercise.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hangzhou 1994 ships Ships built at Severnaya Verf Sovremenny-class destroyers