The Nanchang, the first Type 055 10,000 ton-class large destroyer of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, fires an HHQ-9 surface-to-air missile during the ship’s first air defense and anti-missile mission under realistic combat scenarios in 2021. The footage is released by China Central Television (CCTV) News on March 21, 2026. Photo: Screenshot from CCTV News

An official Chinese media report on Saturday released rare footage of the first live-fire surface-to-air missile launches by the Nanchang, the first Type 055 10,000 ton-class large destroyer of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, with all five missiles launched in the test hitting their targets. A Chinese military affairs expert said that the high accuracy demonstrated the Chinese warship’s comprehensive capabilities, not only its surface-to-air missiles, but also its situational awareness.

The Nanchang (Hull 101) entered service with the PLA Navy in January 2020. About one year since its commissioning, it was tasked with its first air defense and anti-missile mission under realistic combat scenarios, China Central Television (CCTV) News reported on Saturday.

During the test, the Nanchang fired five surface-to-air missiles, and all of them hit their targets, demonstrating the Type 055 large destroyer’s capabilities, according to the report.

The footage in the CCTV News report showed that an HHQ-9 surface-to-air missile was cold launched from the Type 055’s vertical launching system at the bow, before an infrared sensor captured the moment when the missile hit its target.

Qiao Peng, a crew member of the Nanchang, said in the CCTV News report that the mission difficulty was equivalent to a world-class air defense challenge at the time. “We had no idea when the target aircraft would come – whether they would attack simultaneously or separately. We also had to monitor the changing trends of more than a dozen data points within seconds. So our greatest enemy was time; we had to be fast and precise.”

“Missiles serve as our warship’s first line of defense. After this live-fire exercise, we had much greater confidence when operating in the far seas,” Qiao said.

Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Saturday that a highlight of the Type 055 large destroyer’s first live-fire surface-to-air missile launches was its accuracy. 

To successfully strike targets, the system must first detect them through the reconnaissance and early-warning network as well as detection radars, and determine target parameters based on defense ranges, Zhang said. Fire-control radars and other systems then complete target lock-on and missile guidance to ensure precise launches. The entire process also requires overcoming various complex challenges and interferences. Furthermore, targets were moving, which demand high-performance technologies such as mid-course guidance for the missiles. Achieving such results fully demonstrates the powerful air and missile defense capability of the Type 055.

The HHQ-9 is a long-range surface-to-air missile, enabling the Type 055 large destroyer to become not only an armed escort for aircraft carriers, but also a key command node for air defense operations. The missile has a range of several hundred kilometers, enabling it to perform area air defense missions for naval formations，Zhang said.

At the V-Day military parade held in Beijing on September 3, 2025, China unveiled an even newer type of surface-to-air missile, the HHQ-9C. According to the Xinhua News Agency, the missile is primarily responsible for medium-range area anti-missile and air defense for surface ship formations, and is capable of intercepting incoming anti-ship missiles.

Zhang said that the HHQ-9C is an improved version of the HHQ-9, with even higher accuracy, longer range and faster reaction time.

The CCTV News’ Saturday release of the Nanchang’s live-fire shooting test back in 2021 came after two additional Type 055 large destroyers, the Dongguan and Anqing, were recently commissioned into the navy of the PLA Eastern Theater Command and carried out their first combat-oriented training at sea. With their commissioning, the total number of Type 055 large destroyers in service with the PLA Navy has reached 10.

The Type 055 large destroyer is the king of firepower among the PLA Navy’s destroyers, with its main firepower coming from the missile system. It is equipped with more than 100 vertical launch systems VLS cells, which can mix and carry various types of missiles, including air defense missiles, anti-ship missiles, anti-submarine missiles, and land-attack missiles. This makes it the destroyer-class capable of carrying the largest number of missiles to date in China, CCTV News reported.

Air defense missiles possess dual capabilities of long-range air defense and anti-missile defense, enabling it to accurately intercept incoming aerial targets, including warplanes, cruise missiles, or even ballistic missiles; anti-ship missiles feature long range and great power, and can deal devastating blows to enemy surface vessels, the CCTV News report said.