Type 052 destroyer The Type 052 Luhu - class was one of the first modern multi - role guided missile destroyer s built by China . There are currently two units in active service with the People ' s Liberation Army Navy ( PLAN ) with no plans of further construction of additional units . Instead these will be followed by the stealthier 052D class . History . Designed by the China Warship Design Institute ( formerly the Seventh Academy of the Ministry of National Defense ) , the ships were built at Jiangnan Shipyard . No . 112 " Harbin " was the first Luhu destroyer followed by No . 113 " Qingdao " . The chief designer is academician Mr . Pan Jingfu ( 潘镜芙 ) . The class is said to be the first indigenous Chinese warship design approaching modern standards , a significant improvement over the earlier Luda class . The Luhu made extensive use of foreign technologies that were accessible to the PRC prior to the Tiananmen Square incident of 1989 . These included French - made radars and fire - control systems and the General Electric LM2500 gas turbine engines from the US , two of which power each ship . Even with incorporation of Western technology , the chronic lack of adequate ship - borne air defense system have had great impact on the PLAN operations . Equipped with a small number of surface - to - air missile s with visual - range only , and guns with limited range and performance , Chinese warships had historically limited their operations within the area covered by their land - based aircraft due to a lack of fleet defense capability . To rectify this trend , the Luhu destroyers ( and the smaller Jiangwei class frigate ) were fitted with the HQ - 7 SAM that gives it much better air defense capability than any other previous Chinese design , though still limited to within visual range ( WVR ) . The HQ - 7 SAM system is reported to be equipped with 8 ready to fire missiles , plus 16 stored in a semi - automatic reloader system . The same system is also used on the upgraded 051G Luda Destroyer . In spite of the advances , the 052 Luhu Destroyer still suffers in some areas such as electronic warfare and electronic counter - measures . The operational capability of the Luhu - class Destroyers has been called into question by naval analysts . Ship visits in 1997 allowed US Naval officers to board and inspect Luhu Destroyer No . 112 " Harbin " and to take numerous photographs . Analysis of these photographs and reporting by officers present strongly suggested that the Luhu Destroyers were mainly intended as technology demonstration vessels rather than serious naval combatants . For example , the large amount of foreign - supplied equipment on - board was still labeled in the language of the country of origin ; this was also the case with most of the on - board manuals and other documentation , calling into question the ability of the crew to operate efficiently under stressful circumstances when called upon to deal with equipment labeled in English , French , and Italian , as well as Chinese . Further , the various European systems installed were not originally designed to operate together and as a result were not well integrated ; a problem the Chinese could not overcome owing to their lack of familiarity with the underlying technology . The Chinese attempted to address these problems with the introduction of an improved Luhu design , the Luhai - class . This follow - on , essentially an enlarged Luhu , features some improved electronics from foreign suppliers as well as more advanced weapons . However , in some cases , the designers appear to have opted for less capable indigenous designs to ease the system integration issues suffered by the Luhu - class Destroyers . However , the PLAN was reportedly unhappy with the design of the Luhai - class Destroyers , and production ceased after a single unit was completed . According to Chinese media and internet sources , Luhu class is mainly used a technological demonstrator to compare and evaluate different foreign systems , and the two ships initially did not have identical equipment . The first unit , had an Italian licensed production of Raytheon AN / SQS - 56 sonar , Italian DE - 1164 integrated sonar system , which is consisted of DE - 1160 hull mounted sonar ( HMS ) and DE - 1163 variable depth sonar ( VDS ) , and these were later replaced by domestic copy , SJD - 7 sonar system . The second unit had French Thomson - CSF DUBV 23 / 43 HMS / VDS , which were subsequently replaced by domestic copy SJD - 9 sonar system . The combat data systems for the first unit was ZKJ - 3 ( ZKJ - III ) , the Chinese equivalent of Italian IPN - 10 combat data system , and ZKJ - 3 is developed from the export version of IPN - 10 , SADOC 2 , ( SADOC = systema dirizione della Operazioni di combattimento ) . SADOC 2 was sold to China in 1985 and it differs from IPN - 10 in that it lacks the data link the latter has . Incorporation of a domestic data link is the main improvement of Chinese ZKJ - 3 , making it the Chinese equivalent of IPN - 10 . The combat data system of the second unit is ZKJ - 4 , which is the Chinese version of French Thomson - CSF TAVITAC combat data system , two of which sold to China in 1985 and delivered 2 – 3 years later . These combat data systems were later replaced by more advanced follow - on such as ZKJ - 4A / B series during upgrades . Experience gained in handling these foreign systems has helped the development of similar Chinese systems later on . 2011 Upgrade . Both of the destroyers were upgraded in 2011 . The four Type 76A guns were replaced by two Type 730 CIWS on top of the helicopter hangar . The Crotale / HHQ - 7 short - range SAM may have been replaced by the newer model ( FM - 90 ? ) which provides better interception against sea - skimming AShMs . Two Type 726 - 4 decoy launchers were installed on both sides of the forward bridge for better self - protection . Various onboard systems were integrated together ( to a certain degree ) by a Thomson - CSF TAVITAC combat data system which is thought to have been replaced by a new indigenous C3I system ( ZJK - 4B or a newer model ) . The Thomson - CSF Sea Tiger air / surface search radar was first replaced by an indigenous Type 518 Hai Ying radar , and now replaced by a Type 517M long - range air search radar . The Type 362 air / surface radar installed on top of the aft mast has been replaced by a Type 364 . A pair of SATCOM antennas have been installed on top of the helicopter hangar as well . Operational history . On 27 February 2012 , Type 052 class guided missile destroyer " Qingdao " ( 113 ) , along with Type 054A class frigate " Yantai " ( 538 ) and comprehensive supply ship " Weishanhu " ( 887 ) formed the 11th Chinese naval escort flotilla , departed from the city of Qingdao to conduct anti - piracy and escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters . On 16 February 2013 , Type 052 class guided missile destroyer " Harbin " ( 112 ) , along with Type 053H3 class frigate " Mianyang " ( 528 ) and comprehensive supply ship " Weishanhu " ( 887 ) formed the 14th Chinese naval escort flotilla , departed from the city of Qingdao to conduct anti - piracy and escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters . In October 2013 " Qingdao " ( 113 ) participated in the International Fleet Review 2013 in Sydney , Australia .