China extends strike range of Type 055 destroyer with airborne early warning system: CCTV

China extends strike range of Type 055 destroyer with airborne early warning system: CCTV

‘It allows to identify both air and sea threats far beyond visual range,’ crew member on the destroyer Lhasa tells state broadcaster
China’s most powerful destroyer can now strike beyond visual-range targets with pinpoint precision by linking to an airborne early warning system – the same technology used by the Pakistan Air Force in the recent Kashmir conflict – according to state broadcaster CCTV.On Sunday, CCTV confirmed for the first time that the Type 055 stealth guided-missile destroyer Lhasa could use data links to synchronise with People’s Liberation Army’s airborne early warning platforms, enabling it to conduct long-range anti-ship and air-defence strikes without relying solely on the ship’s radars.

Song Zhongping, a former PLA instructor and military commentator, said this represented a major advance in operational coordination.Battlefield data fusion – what we call ‘situation connectivity’ – means complete interoperability and seamless information sharing across domains,” he said.

CCTV footage showed the Lhasa taking part in a live-fire exercise involving multi-service coordination under the PLA’s Northern Theatre Command, firing missiles guided by airborne targeting cues. Shipborne helicopters and sensors fed data into the combat centre for simultaneous sea‑and‑air engagements, the report said.

“We used data links to share battlefield awareness in real time with the early warning aircraft, significantly expanding our detection range,” Wang Mingwei, a senior sergeant on the Lhasa, told CCTV. “It allows us to identify both air and sea threats far beyond visual range.”

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