The Weinan (Hull 166), a Type 052D guided missile destroyer affiliated with the navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, conducts multi-course training exercises across multiple sea regions in 2025. Photo: Screenshot from WeChat account of the PLA Southern Theater Command

CCTV News military channel reported on Tuesday that the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy's Southern Theater Command recently organized multiple destroyers, including the Type 052D destroyers Weinan, Changsha and Guilin, as well as the Type 055 destroyer Zunyi, for live-fire maritime exercises in the South China Sea.

During the shore bombardment drill, the Zunyi took the lead and successfully struck all targets within the designated time, said the video from the CCTV News military channel.

The command ship for this exercise was the Weinan, which was commissioned only recently. As a young vessel still building its combat capability, the Weinan delivered impressive results in its first live-fire exercise of this kind, the video said.

Since its commissioning less than a year ago, the Weinan has participated in multiple major training and exercise missions, demonstrating its strong combat readiness with outstanding performance, said the video.

Unlike previous Type 052D destroyers that have spherical domes to house radars on their main masts, the Weinan is equipped with a dual-face radar similar to that of the PLA Navy's Type 054B guided-missile frigate commissioned in early 2025.

The new radar suggests that the Weinan could be a new modified version of the Type 052D destroyer, Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times previously. This type of radar is likely a type of dual-face rotating active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, which offers substantial improvements compared with the original radar found on previous Type 052Ds, according to Fu.

Similar radar technologies first appeared on the Type 054B frigate. The new system is expected to be able to detect and track aerial and maritime targets from farther distances, including stealth targets, Fu said.

Global Times