Correlation of power of US and Chinese super destroyers

The US Zumwalt class has a groundbreaking stealth design, while China's Type-055 has the advantage in firepower.

Zumwalt is the most modern destroyer class of the US.

The US Zumwalt-class destroyers and China's Type-055 are attracting much attention from the military community, as they represent the pinnacle of naval technology development in the two countries. The Zumwalt is a future warship, serving the mission of fire support, while the Type-055 is more focused on naval combat capabilities, protecting China's growing aircraft carrier fleet, according to National Interest.

After a lengthy and costly development process, the USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) was commissioned into the US Navy on October 15, 2016. Measuring 600 feet (183 m) long and displacing 14,500 tons, it is the first of three stealth destroyers designed for US land attack.

China is also building an equally large Type-055 destroyer with a displacement of 14,000 tons, expected to be commissioned in 2018. When operational, the Type-055 will be the largest and most powerful warship in Asia.

Military expert David Axe said that Type-055 will hardly have a chance to directly confront the Zumwalt class, because the missions of these two classes of ships are completely different.

The Zumwalt class is the first large US surface combatant class in 30 years not to be equipped with the Aegis missile defense system. Instead of integrating them into carrier strike groups, the US Navy will likely deploy them for solo support patrols. This is to take advantage of the Zumwalt class’s stealth against radar, while its two 155mm guns with a range of up to 130km can support amphibious forces and special operations.

Zumwalt with optimized design for stealth capabilities. Photo: National Review.

Meanwhile, the features of the Type-055 have not been clearly shown, but there are many signs that it will play the role of fleet air defense, protecting China's domestic Type-001A aircraft carrier.

The Type-055's superstructure may be equipped with an electronically scanned array radar (APAR) similar to the AN/SPY-1D model in the US Navy's Aegis air defense shield. This shows that Beijing is developing its navy according to Washington's operational model. US aircraft carriers are always escorted by at least one cruiser and several destroyers equipped with the Aegis complex.

The obvious difference between the two ships lies in their design. The Type-055 uses a traditional hull and superstructure, only applying radar cross-section reduction techniques on some aspects such as covering the forward deck, sloping superstructure, and enclosing the radar station.

Type-055 superstructure test stand. Photo: Southfront.

In contrast, the Zumwalt is a class of stealth ships, with the hull and superstructure sloping at an angle, and the gun mounts and sensor systems are also enclosed, minimizing radar cross-section. The Zumwalt class has high stealth capabilities to serve the purpose of operating independently near enemy shores.

In terms of weapons, the Type-055 is said to have 128 vertical launch tubes (VLS) for anti-aircraft missiles and other ammunition, six more than the Ticonderoga-class cruisers, the most heavily armed surface ship class of the US Navy.

The USS Zumwalt has only 80 launchers, arranged along the hull to act as protective armor, absorbing some of the damage from enemy missiles or artillery shells. The Type-055, on the other hand, has a VLS cluster in the middle of the hull, similar to the US Ticonderoga and Arleigh Burke classes.

The Zumwalt class trades missile numbers for ship durability, while the Type-055 continues to follow traditional design principles, trading survivability for maximum firepower.

Because of their different designs and missions, the two ships are unlikely to face each other on the battlefield. They may engage in deterrence and naval power projection missions, but they would never directly engage the other ship, Axe concluded.

According to VNE