Bronco NB5055 1/350 Chinese Navy Destroyer Type 055 BRONCO

The Type 055 refers to a class of modern Chinese missile destroyers, sometimes classified as cruisers. Probably the first unit of this type was launched in 2014 or 2015, but it entered service probably at the beginning of 2020. Class 055 ships are 180 meters long and 20 meters wide. The displacement is likely to be around 12,000 tons, and the top speed is just over 30 knots. The destroyer is armed with: a single 130mm H / PJ-38 cannon, a 24-guide VLS launcher for the HHQ-10 missiles, as well as a 112-guide VLS launcher for the HHQ-9, YJ-18 or CJ-10 missiles . The ship can operate with 2 Changhe Z-18F helicopters.

The 055 class ships are currently the most modern destroyers in the Chinese fleet, the size of which corresponds to the size of the American Ticonderoga class cruisers. They were undoubtedly designed and built to be key shield ships for their own aircraft carriers or large landing ships. They put a lot of emphasis on the possibility of detecting and destroying air targets, while maintaining the considerable possibilities of ZOP (anti-submarine warfare) and destroying surface targets. The Type 055 ships also use very modern electronic equipment, including the Type 346 radar. Nevertheless, the precise assessment of the combat capabilities of this type of units is difficult, because most of the data on the systems used on them is imprecise or secret. It can be assumed that they are comparable to the American destroyers Arleigh Burke Flight II and Flight IIA or the Japanese Atago class. However, this is only a guess.