China Built Ten 13,000-Ton Cruisers in Five Years While the U.S. Navy Retires Its Last Ones: The Per-Ship Edge Is Gone

China Built Ten 13,000-Ton Cruisers in Five Years While the U.S. Navy Retires Its Last Ones: The Per-Ship Edge Is Gone

China Calls It A Destroyer — The Pentagon Calls It A Cruiser, Because Admitting What It Really Is Would Be Worse: China’s Type 055 warship sits at the center of a quiet naming dispute that reveals more about the US-China naval balance than any single specification. Beijing calls it a destroyer. The U.S. Department of Defense and NATO refer to it as a cruiser. At roughly 13,000 tons and carrying 112 large vertical-launch cells, the ship is bigger…