The People's Liberation Army Navy has recently commissioned a Type 052D guided-missile destroyer, one of the world's leading classes of combat ships, further expanding its surface combatant force.

The CNS Tongchuan, hull number 177, has joined the South Sea Fleet. It has taken part in several training operations and exercises since its delivery, according to the Navy.

As the latest member of the Type 052D class, the Tongchuan is believed to have a full-load displacement of nearly 8,000 metric tons.

It carries a wide range of weapons, including a single-barrel 130-mm naval gun, two close-in weapon systems, as well as dozens of anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles. Equipped with a host of cutting-edge technologies, the vessel features a low radar signature, a high degree of informationization and a state-of-the-art phased-array radar system. It is capable of conducting anti-ship, anti-submarine and air defense operations.

According to observers, compared with earlier Type 052D variants, the Tongchuan and other newly built versions feature a longer hull, greater firepower and upgraded radar systems, and are capable of carrying a larger helicopter.

The first Type 052D destroyer, CNS Kunming, entered active service with the South Sea Fleet in March 2014. To date, the Navy has commissioned 35 Type 052D destroyers and deployed them in a range of long-distance operations, including escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia, as well as exercises with carrier strike groups.

The Tongchuan has become the fifth destroyer named after a city in northwestern China's Shaanxi province, following the CNS Xi'an, CNS Yan'an, CNS Xianyang and CNS Weinan.

With the commissioning of the new vessel, Shaanxi now has the largest number of destroyers named after places within a single provincial-level region. These include two vessels in the Type 055 class, which many observers regard as the world's most powerful class of combat ships.