According to publicly available reports, the previous eight Type 055 destroyers were deployed with the Northern Theater Command Navy and the Southern Theater Command Navy. The two newly commissioned vessels have been assigned to the Eastern Theater Command Navy. With this deployment, three theater command navies now operate Type 055 destroyers.

　　Two new Type 055 large destroyers of the Chinese People"s Liberation Army Navy, the Hull 109 Dongguan and the Hull 110 Anqing, conducting joint training at sea with other vessels, are featured in a report aired by Xinwen Lianbo, a news program produced by China Central Television, on March 8, 2026. Photo: Screenshot of the Xinwen Lianbo

　　Wang Yunfei, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Sunday that it is likely that the second batch of Type 055 destroyers has seen upgrades and improvements over the first batch of eight vessels. Specific technical details are not disclosed at present. The expert noted that the additional hulls will meet the future needs of multiple Chinese carrier groups conducting long-distance deployments.

　　Typically, a carrier formation requires one to two large destroyers as its main escort vessels. Considering factors such as training rotation and maintenance cycles, supporting three carrier groups or going on long-range missions would require more large destroyers, Wang said.

　　Zhang Junshe, another Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times that the core advantages of the Type 055 lie in two aspects.

　　First is its outstanding reconnaissance, early-warning and information-integration capabilities. The ship"s radar has a longer detection range and stronger surveillance capability, enabling it to identify and track hundreds of aerial targets simultaneously and to command fleet air-defense operations, Zhang said.