A naval fleet comprised of the guided-missile destroyers Ningbo (Hull 139) and Taiyuan (Hull 131), as well as the guided-missile frigate Nantong (Hull 601), steams in astern formation in waters of the East China Sea during a maritime training drill in late January, 2021.Photo:China Military
With five Type 052D destroyers allegedly spotted under construction at the Dalian Shipyard, China is said to have restarted the mass production of this type of warship, with foreign media hyping that the fast pace of China's shipbuilding makes the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy "the largest navy in the world," a claim that Chinese analysts slammed on Tuesday as being the rhetoric of the "China threat" theory.
An unverified picture recently circulating on social media showed what seemed to be five Type 052D destroyers at various stages of completion at the Dalian Shipyard in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, Paris-based media outlet Naval News reported on Sunday.
In addition to these five, at least one more is being built at the Jiangnan Changxing Shipyard in Shanghai, and they will soon join the 25 warships of the same class currently in service with the PLA Navy, Naval News said, citing observers.
China has not officially announced its warship construction plan.
Since China aims to basically complete the modernization of its national defense and armed forces by 2035, including the development of a blue-water navy, to match the country's international status and better defend its interests, it is not unexpected if China is indeed building more advanced warships, particularly amid the current turbulent global security situation, analysts said.
Before the latest round of destroyer construction, China's shipbuilding industry launched a record 10 destroyers in 2019 with eight more in 2021, Naval News reported, noting that with such a pace of construction, the PLA Navy "confirms its status of largest in the world," a rank reached in 2021, according to a Pentagon report.
To say the PLA Navy is the largest in the world is an overstatement used to hype the "China threat" theory, because the Pentagon only counts the vessels' quantity and not quality - in this context, the displacement of the ships, a Beijing-based military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Comprehensively speaking, the US Navy is by far the largest in the world with 11 nuclear-powered super carriers. Even speaking by numbers, the US has some 70 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, many more than their Chinese Type 052D counterparts, the expert said.
The PLA Navy's rapid development indeed reflects the capabilities of China's shipbuilding industry, but China uses the vessels to safeguard its sovereignty, territorial integrity and development interests, as well as provide public security service to the international community and contribute to peace and stability, unlike the US, which uses warships to maintain its global hegemony, the expert said.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Intelligence Unit says Iran will consider the Israeli regime’s shelters “legitimate targets” if residential areas in the country come under attack.
In a post published on social media platform X on Tuesday, the IRGC said that any strikes on residential areas in Iran would give Iran’s armed forces the right to attack Israeli shelters in the occupied lands.
The IRGC stated that it has intelligence on the blueprints and the exact locations of these shelters.
Iran began its Operation True Promise 4 after the US and Israel launched their joint military aggression against the Islamic Republic in late February by assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, and several senior Iranian officials.
In its latest wave of attacks, the IRGC said it rained down missiles on the Israeli regime’s “secure” intelligence facilities in Tel Aviv.
Iranian armed forces have also pounded American military bases and ...
In a fresh wave of retaliatory strikes, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) targeted the Israeli regime’s “secure” intelligence facilities in Tel Aviv.
The IRGC’s Public Relations Department said in a statement on Tuesday that it had carried out the 79th wave of its ongoing retaliatory Operation True Promise 4 against the Israeli and American targets.
Deploying powerful Kheybar Shekan, Emad, and Sejjil missiles alongside IRGC Aerospace Force kamikaze drones, the operation successfully breached the regime's multi-layered air defense systems, the statement said.
The missiles, it stated, targeted Israel’s intelligence facilities in northern and central Tel Aviv, as well as military commercial and support centers in Ramat Gan and the Negev.
The missiles also hit Israel’s southern military logistics and command headquarters in Beersheba.
The missile strikes triggered widespread panic across Israel and forced the suspension of a Knesset (parliament) session on Tuesday.
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The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announces staging the 78th wave of its underway retaliatory Operation True Promise 4, targeting such highly sensitive Israeli targets as Dimona, Tel Aviv, and Eilat as well as several US military bases in the region.
In a statement on Tuesday, the IRGC described the latest phase of the operation as a significant development featuring missiles raining down on enemy targets as the nation was leveling momentous support behind the Islamic Republic by attending millions-strong rallies with "clenched fists."
'A distinct record'
The latest phase, it noted, "has set a distinct record in the timeline of the war."
According to the statement, targets in the occupied port of Eilat, Dimona, a heavily fortified city that hosts the Israeli regime's notorious nuclear reactor in its vicinity, and northern Tel Aviv were struck using Emad and multi-warhead Qadr missile systems along with attack drones.
This was the second time the Corps was hitting Dimona, ...
