ts a Saturday. If you have 15 minutes and dont mind technical military talk then here is a video about China's Type 055 destroyer - perhaps the most powerful warship in the world today. Todate the Chinese Navy has launched EIGHT of these ships with only-the-Chinese knowing how many more they are going to build and launch.
Because it is large - 13,000 tons and just touching 600 feet in length (180 metres) the Americans have classified the Type 055 as a cruiser.
Why? Because the US Navy's much smaller Ticonderoga class ships of just under 10,000 tons have been classified as cruisers.
Why? Because if it is classified a cruiser then the American military contractors can charge much more money than say if it was classified a destroyer. The Ticonderogas cost US$1.0 billion each - built in the 1980s and 1990s.
A very potent and interesting feature of this Type 055 destroyer is that it has multiple radar systems fulfilling different roles (aircraft detection, including stealth aircraft, long range surface ship detection, anti missile radar, navigation radar (obviously) and satellite detection radar).
When the Type 055 enters a battle zone it is able to detect any observation satellites (aka spy satellites) that are positioned over that battle zone. The coordinates of the spy satellites are then relayed to ground based anti-satellite rockets (which maybe too large to be carried on the ship) which can then be fired to take out the satellites.
Spy satellites orbit the earth in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). This is between 84 - 127 miles above the earths surface. LEO allows for clearer imaging and photography.
So the Type 055 cruiser has the capacity to clear spy satellites in the skies over a battle zone.
The other point to note is that the Chinese have most likely already begun work on the next updated super duper version of the Type 055 cruiser. Here is the video:
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