''Beijixing'' (AGI-851) is the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of the Type 815

spy ship A spy ship or reconnaissance vessel is a dedicated ship intended to gather intelligence, usually by means of sophisticated electronic eavesdropping. In a wider sense, any ship intended to gather information could be considered a spy ship. Spy ...

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 ...

(PLAN). She was originally named ''Dongdiao'' (232). Her main task is to monitor and analyze electronic signal intelligence. It may also conduct tactical ballistic missile tests, missile trajectory measurement and missile tracking tasks.

Description

She has been modified throughout the years. After modification, the original dish antenna was replaced by three large radomes. The long bow building is adopted, and the first building extends to the helicopter deck, which not only increases the height of the freeboard, but also increases the space inside the ship. The bow has a slight sheave, and the front section is also equipped with a fender. These measures are to reduce the waves on the deck and make the ship suitable for ocean navigation.

Construction and career

''Dongdiao'' was commissioned in late 1991 after being completed by Hudong–Zhonghua Shipyard,

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. She serves under the

East Sea Fleet The Eastern Theater Command Navy (), or East Sea Fleet (ESF; ), is one of the three fleets of the People's Liberation Army Navy, operating in the East China Sea under the Eastern Theater Command. It was the first naval force formed by the Peopl ...

. In February 2000, she was first seen off the coast of Japan. Afterwards, she was renamed ''Beijixing'' (851). It was reported during RIMPAC 2014, she was monitoring the exercise while outside US territorial waters but in the exclusive economic zone of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. She was again sent to monitor

RIMPAC 2018 RIMPAC, the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise. RIMPAC is held biennially during June and July of even-numbered years from Honolulu, Hawaii, with the exception of 2020 where it was held i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beijixing 1991 ships Ships built in China Auxiliary ships of the People's Liberation Army Navy