Strength On The Surface

Naval orders-of-battle are on the rise in the Asia-Pacific. Mounting tensions over territory, resources and state-on-state rivalries at sea are prompting Asia-Pacific navies to boost capability to support higher-end operations. Frigates and destroyers are at the centre of these developments.

- Lee Willett

In late 2015, a small flotilla of People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warships, the ‘Type-054A/Jiangkai-II’ class frigate Yiyang and the ‘Type-052C/Luyang-II’ class destroyer Jinan, supported by the ‘Type903/Fuchi’ class oiler and replenishment ship Qiandao Hu, completed a round-the-world voyage. The deployment began in the Indian Ocean, with a rotation as the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Naval Escort Flotilla, supporting counter-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa. The ships then headed west of the Suez Canal to undertake a number of port visits in the Mediterranean, and into northern Europe and the Baltic. They then headed home via trans-oceanic crossings of the Atlantic and Pacific (the former including North American port visits).