Luyang II Class (Type 052C)

Public description

The Luyang II Type 052C class was the PLAN's first substantial step into phased-array area-air-defence destroyers. It introduced a modern fleet-defence role before the larger Type 052D and Type 055 entered service, pairing long-range SAM capability with anti-surface and ASW weapons. The class remains important historically because it moved Chinese destroyer design from point defence toward layered task-group air defence.