China's first Type 054B frigate, the Luohe, makes a training debut in a maritime replenishment exercise in the Yellow Sea in March 2025. Photo: Screenshot from China Central Television

After its commissioning into the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in January, China's first Type 054B frigate made its first public appearance with a training exercise in the Yellow Sea on Thursday. An expert described the rapid development of the warship's capabilities as astounding and predicted it would become combat-ready soon.

A combat support ship detachment affiliated with the navy of the PLA Northern Theater Command recently organized challenging training exercises, including maritime VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure), navigating under simulated complex weather conditions, as well as search and rescue, in a move to hone the unit's round-the-clock, all-domain combat capabilities, China Central Television (CCTV) reported.

During the exercise in an undisclosed location in the Yellow Sea, the replenishment ship Dongpinghu was tasked with refueling multiple vessels. The frigate Luohe sailed to the Dongpinghu's port side while the destroyer Xining sailed to the Dongpinghu's stern, as the three vessels started a series of procedures to conduct maritime replenishment, according to the CCTV report.

The 5,000-ton-class Luohe, which is the PLA Navy's first Type 054B frigate, was officially commissioned at a naval port in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province on January 22, with the hull number of 545, the PLA Navy announced at the time.

The maritime replenishment exercise marked Luohe's first public appearance since commissioning, according to publicly available information reviewed by the Global Times.

The Luohe began maritime training exercises in under two months after commissioning, and this represents an astounding speed of combat capability generation for China's first Type 054B frigate, Wang Yunfei, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Typically, destroyers and frigates require about one year to reach initial operational capability, as they must undergo a series of basic training exercises, Wang said.

The Luohe is likely in this trial exercise phase, undergoing a series of training tests. Further training in far-seas voyages, defensive operations and offensive missions is expected before the vessel reaches full operational capability, Wang said, expecting this to take about less than two years if everything goes smoothly, considering the ship being the first hull in its class.

As a new-generation frigate independently developed and built by China, the Luohe features advancements in stealth technology, combat command systems and integrated firepower control, among other aspects. The ship boasts strong combat capabilities and versatility in military missions, which are of great significance for improving the overall combat effectiveness of naval warship formations, the PLA Navy said when the vessel was commissioned.