The guided-missile frigates Mianyang and Suining attached to a frigate flotilla with the navy under the PLA Southern Theater Command steam in astern formation during a maritime combat training exercise in mid July, 2023. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Ge Hanqiang and Zhang Weifeng)

China's next generation frigate, the Type 054B, launched only five months ago, reportedly started trials recently, indicating smooth progress, experts said on Sunday.

Over the past week, overseas media outlets including Naval News and the South China Morning Post reported that the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy's first Type 054B frigate has started builder trials, citing undated imagery shared on social media platforms showing the ship sailing up the Huangpu River apparently returning from a trial back to the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard, where the vessel was launched in August 2023.

No official announcement has been made for the frigate's test voyages as of press time.

Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesperson at the Chinese Defense Ministry, confirmed the launch of the Type 054B at a regular press conference in late August 2023, stressing that it is a normal arrangement addressing national security needs and the overall naval trend of the PLA Navy developing equipment including main combat vessels according to related plans.

The goal is to defend national sovereignty, security and development interests, and better safeguard world and regional peace and stability, Wu said.

Trial voyages starting just within half a year after launch indicate smooth progress in the ship's construction, a military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Sunday.

The first hull of a new ship type is important because it has no experience, so if the ship's trials go well, not only will it enter service fast, but subsequent ships of the same type will also receive benefits, the expert said.

China launched a second Type 054B frigate in October 2023 at the Huangpu-Wenchong Shipyard in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, according to the overseas media reports.

The Type 054B frigate is expected to succeed the PLA Navy's current workhorse Type 054A in missions that defend China's national sovereignty, security and development interests, as well as safeguard peace and stability in the world, analysts said.

The Type 054B will likely join aircraft carriers, amphibious ships and destroyers in far seas voyages after entering service, experts said, noting that the frigate should have high versatility, reliability, cost efficiency and comfortability.

Analyses on openly available imagery suggest that the Type 054B has a full displacement of about 6,000 tons, more than the 4,000 tons of the Type 054A.

With a stealthy design, the Type 054B is apparently equipped with a 100mm main gun, a 32-cell missile vertical launch system, two box launchers for anti-ship missiles of an unconfirmed type, a 1130 close-in weapon system, a HQ-10 short-range air defense missile system and torpedo launchers, as well as a dual-face active phased array radar system and an integrated radio frequency mast, reports said.