China Type-055 Destroyer Fires YJ-20 Hypersonic Missile in First Official Live Fire Test.

China has released official footage showing a Type-055 Renhai-class destroyer launching the YJ-20 hypersonic anti-ship missile during a live-fire drill in the Western Pacific. The event suggests Beijing is moving hypersonic weapons out of testing and into routine frontline naval operations, reshaping the regional maritime balance.

Chinese military media this week aired footage of a People’s Liberation Army Navy Type-055 destroyer conducting what was described as an operational live-fire launch of the YJ-20 hypersonic anti-ship missile in the Western Pacific. Unlike prior hypersonic demonstrations framed as experimental or developmental, the broadcast portrayed the launch as a standard fleet activity, underscoring growing confidence that the weapon is ready for deployment aboard China’s most capable surface combatants.
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Screenshot from the video showing a China Type-055 destroyer firing a YJ-20 hypersonic missile in the first official live fire test (Picture source: Chinese MoD)

Close examination of the footage reveals the YJ-20’s distinctive biconic aerodynamic form, a configuration that supports controlled glide at sustained hypersonic speeds after the initial rocket boost. Chinese disclosures surrounding its Victory Day debut in September 2025 highlighted this shape as essential for generating protective shockwaves that shield the control surfaces from heat during high-velocity flight. Although no official performance figures have been released, regional military assessments place the missile’s range between 1,000 and 1,500 km with cruising speeds above Mach 6. The terminal flight path appears designed to allow a near-vertical descent combined with sharp lateral manoeuvres, a profile intended to compress defender reaction times and disrupt prediction models used by shipborne interceptors.

The choice of the Type 055 as the launch platform reinforces the Renhai class’s position as the PLAN’s most capable surface combatant. CNS Wuxi, hull number DDG 104, is one of eight active ships from the first production batch, with additional hulls in various stages of construction at Jiangnan Shipyard and Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company. Displacing between 12,000 and 13,000 tons at full load, the destroyer measures approximately 180 meters in length with a beam of 20 meters and a draft of 6.6 meters. Its propulsion system is based on four QC-280 gas turbines arranged in a combined gas and gas configuration, producing a total output of roughly 112 MW or 150,000 horsepower. This allows the ship to reach speeds near 30 knots and sustain long-range operations across more than 5,000 nautical miles.

The Type 055’s offensive capacity centers on its 112 cell universal VLS, divided into 64 cells forward and 48 aft. Built around the GJB 5860-2006 standard, this system supports both hot and cold launches and accommodates missiles such as the HHQ-9 surface-to-air system, YJ-18 anti-ship and land attack missiles, CJ-10 cruise missiles, and CY-5 anti-submarine rockets. The successful integration of the YJ-20 into this same architecture broadens the destroyer’s strike envelope well beyond previous parameters, giving it the ability to engage high value targets from distances that once belonged exclusively to land-based ballistic systems. The ship’s Type 346B dual band AESA radar and associated combat management suite provide the situational awareness needed to support such long range engagements, while aviation facilities sized for Z-9 or Z-18 helicopters extend its reach in anti-submarine and targeting roles.

The finalization test of the YJ-20 marks a visible shift in how the PLAN presents its growing hypersonic arsenal. Instead of tightly restricting public access to developmental activity, this release showcases a weapon that appears close to operational maturity. The controlled disclosure suggests an effort to signal both confidence in the system and the expectation that hypersonic missile employment will become routine within Chinese surface fleets. By demonstrating that the Type 055 can launch a manoeuvring hypersonic strike from its standard VLS, the PLA Navy emphasizes its intention to deploy these weapons across the same platforms tasked with escorting carriers and projecting power beyond the first island chain.

The presence of a missile with the YJ-20’s reported characteristics on a front-line destroyer has significant implications for naval operations in the Western Pacific. A ship like Wuxi, positioned hundreds of kilometers from the Chinese coastline can hold large surface vessels at risk far beyond the range of traditional cruise missiles. The possibility of near-vertical, high speed terminal attacks complicates layered defensive planning and forces rival navies to adjust standoff distances, dispersal patterns, and early warning requirements. The PLAN’s rapid expansion of the Type 055 fleet, now incorporating both commissioned hulls and several new vessels in outfitting or construction phases, suggests that China views the destroyer as the principal host for its most advanced strike systems.

The unveiling of this test reinforces China’s movement toward a more assertive maritime posture in which hypersonic weapons are fully integrated into day to day fleet operations. With the YJ-20 entering serial production and the Type 055 fleet continuing to grow, the PLAN is positioning itself to project long-range precision strike power across contested waters where reaction time and engagement geometry increasingly favor the attacker. The test by Wuxi represents a material shift in operational capability and signals the arrival of a new phase in Indo-Pacific naval competition, one defined by speed, manoeuvre and the shrinking of decision windows for commanders at sea.