A group of four Chinese warships, including the country’s one of the most powerful destroyers, the Type-052D, have entered the US Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around the Aleutian island chain off the coast of Alaska.
The US Coast Guard recently announced that the Legend-class Bertholf coast guard ship followed a group of four Chinese warships, which were entering the US EEZ around the Aleutian island chain off the coast of Alaska. The incident occurred on August 29 and 30, but was only announced on September 12 by the website of the Defense Imaging Information Coordination Service (DVIDS).
Independent observers have also previously noted that Japanese officials said they had detected four Chinese warships, including a Type 052D-class destroyer, a Type 903 supply ship, and an intelligence reconnaissance ship, and a cruiser sailing east to west through the Soya Strait on August 24, heading for Alaskan waters.
Initial information shows that the captain of the US coast guard Bertholf, Tim Brown, had “direct, safe and professional communication with the Chinese warships, in accordance with international standards”.
Observers said that China’s reckless sending of a powerful fleet of warships into the US EEZ to probe Washington’s response, thereby making plans to deal with the US fleet operating in international waters economy, where Beijing is making illegal claims.
Type 052D is a multi-purpose missile destroyer equipped with a new vertical missile launch system, a single 130 mm canon, a modern integrated command combat system, a long-range air defense missile system Hq-9SAM, YJ-18 cruise missiles, long-range anti-ship missiles and active phased array radar systems. This is considered the most powerful battleship of China after Type 055 destroyer.
Praised by the domestic press as the “Chinese Aegis” battleship, however, world military experts do not overestimate this Type-052D battleship, even many critics call them just “paper shark”. Japan and the US both think they can sink this warship without too much effort.
Although it is considered the pride of the Chinese navy, due to the lack of a stable engine, this battleship constantly encountered problems while sailing on the ocean. Even once on the voyage to the Baltic for exercises with Russia, China’s Type 052D battleship number 173 stalled and drifted in the middle of the Indian Ocean for two weeks in a row in 2017.