<Kanwa news April 12, 1999>: As the source of the Russian Severnoye Design Bureau indicated to the Kanwa reporter, things are going smoothly about China’s purchase of the "Sovremenny"-class destroyer and on the basis of the current production situation, a timely delivery can be ensured. There were reports that the SSN22 manufacturer might not be able to deliver the missile on time due to the shortage of funds. However, the same source indicated that all the manufacturers concerned had timely received the deposits from China and that there was no such a problem as reported.

The source confirmed that the Chinese navy placed an order for the "Project 956E" type of "Sovremenny", which are used only by China at this time. When fully loaded, the destroyer has a displacement of 7000 tons It is equipped with the Moskit-E ship-to-ship missile. In other words, its range has been extended to 160 kilometers. In addition, it also has a multiple-cell launch system for the Shtil ship-to-air missiles with a range of 3.5 to 25 kilometers at 3 Mach. The first ship will be delivered to China at the end of next year. The first group of the Chinese technicians will leave for the school of the Severnaya Shipbuilding Plant later in May to receive the training on the technical operation, maintenance, and repairs of the "Project 956E". (Andrei Pinkov)

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