History
China
Name	Qiqihar
Namesake	Qiqihar (齐齐哈尔)
Builder	Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company, Dalian
Launched	26 June 2017
Commissioned	14 August 2020
Identification	Pennant number: 121
Status	Active
General characteristics
Class and type	Type 052D destroyer
Displacement	7,500 tons (full load)
Length	157 m (515 ft)
Beam	17 m (56 ft)
Draught	6 m (20 ft)
Propulsion	Combined diesel or gas
Complement	280
Sensors and processing systems	Type 346 radar Type 518 radar Variable depth sonar Towed array sonar
Armament	1 x 130 mm gun 1 × HQ-10 short-range SAM 24-cell launcher 64 cell VLS HHQ-9 SAM YJ-18 SSM CY-5 ASW Type 730 CIWS
Aircraft carried	Helicopter
Aviation facilities	Hangar Helipad

Qiqihar (121) is a Type 052D destroyer of the People's Liberation Army Navy. She was commissioned on 8 August 2020.^[1]

Development and design

The basic ship type and layout of the Type 052D guided-missile destroyer is the same as that of the Type 052C destroyer, but compared to the earlier Type 052C destroyer, the Type 052D superstructure has a larger inclination angle and provides better stealth performance. At the same time, the 052C helicopter hangar is located The left side of the hull axis was changed to the center axis of the ship on Type 052D; a pair of small boat storage compartments were added on both sides of the hangar, similar to the design on the Type 054A frigate.

The close in weapon system is composed of a H/PJ-12 short-range defense weapon system located in front of the bridge and a 24 Hongqi-10 air defense missile system located on the top of the hangar, which is combined to form a ladder interception. The original 100mm naval gun was replaced by a higher height and better stealth model H/PJ45 naval gun. On May 13, 2019, the extended version of the 052DL was exposed. The hull of the 052DL is basically the same as the 052D, but the helicopter deck is lengthened to prepare for the Zhi-20 to board the ship.^[2]

The Type 52D is the first Chinese surface combatant to use canister-based universal VLS, as opposed to the concentric type VLS carried aboard earlier vessels. 64 cells are carried; 32 forward and 32 aft.^[3] The VLS is reportedly an implementation of the GJB 5860-2006 standard.^[4] The VLS may fire the extended-range variant of the HHQ-9 surface-to-air missile, YJ-18 anti-ship cruise missiles,^[5] and CY-5 anti-submarine missiles.^[6]

Construction and career

Qiqihar is launched on 26 June 2017 at the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company in Dalian. Commissioned on 14 August 2020.^[7]

On 2 March 2021, Huainan, Tangshan, Qiqihar and Zhangjiakou conducted a training exercise in the Yellow Sea.^[8][9][10]