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Russia has delivered a number of newly completed warships to the PLA Navy this year, including seven Project 636 (Kilo class) diesel-electric submarines and one Project 956EM (Sovremenny class) missile destroyer.
Russian Regnum news agency confirmed that the North Shipyard based in St Petersburg delivered a Sovremenny class destroyer to the Chinese navy on Wednesday (28 December), only days after a Kilo class submarine was officially handed to China on 22 December. This year the PLA navy has already received seven of the eight Kilo class submarines and one of the two Sovremenny class destroyers it ordered from Russia in 2002.
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Japanese TV image showing a newly completed Kilo class submarine on its way to China |
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In 2002 the China made two orders via the Russian state-owned arms trading company Rosoboronexport to purchase two improved Project 956EM (Sovremenny class) missile destroyers worth US$1.4 billion and eight Project 636 (Kilo class) submarines worth US$2 billion. The main contractor for the two Sovremenny class destroyers is the St Petersburg-based North Shipyard, and the construction of eight Kilo class submarines was contracted to three Russian shipyards.
Delivery of the Kilo class submarines with missile complex Club-S system began in May 2005, with seven of the eight submarines delivered by the end of 2005. The delivery of the last submarine was reportedly delayed to mid-2006 due to some unknown technical problems.
The first Project 956EM Sovremenny class destroyers was launched in April 2004, followed by the second hull in July the same year. However, the second ship, which was schedule to be delivered in early 2006, was caught in a fire accident on 27 April 2005. The hull was damaged by the fire, though the Russian shipbuilder was confident that this wouldn’t affect the ship’s quality. As a result, the delivery of the second Sovremenny class destroyer is now postponed and its new delivery date cannot be confirmed.
China has been investing heavily since the 1990s to build a ‘blue water’ naval force that can operate in the deep ocean. A number of very modern domestically-built surface combatants and submarines were commissioned in 2004. The delivery of these Russian-built warships will further enhance the PLA Navy’s capability to launch a large-scale amphibious assault in Taiwan as well as deterring the U.S. and Japanese naval forces from interfering in its operation.
29 December 2005
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