China's Huanqiu recently ran a video report in its military section saying the 10,000-ton-class destroyer Zunyi took first place in an anti-submarine tactics competition. The report draws on content produced by China Central Television's military channel. What follows is the account given by state media and has not been independently verified.

According to the report, Zunyi carries hull number 107, has been deeply integrated into aircraft carrier group operations since entering service and has completed major missions such as a far-seas live-fire exercise in the South Pacific. It also says the ship spends more than 200 days a year at sea. Chinese media described the vessel as a new-quality maritime force.

First place and the anti-submarine tactic

Zunyi's crew reportedly won first place in a Navy competition last year. The report credited a submarine-search tactic that officers and sailors developed and summarized themselves, but it did not disclose the tactic's name, procedures, equipment or performance figures. The exact timing and location of the competition and the participating units were also not given.

Crew member Xu Yi said anti-submarine warfare is a hard problem for navies everywhere. Detection at sea depends on experience and equipment, he said, and whether a contact was really a submarine can be confirmed only after returning to port and comparing it with submarine traces. He summed up the requirements as finding the target, defending against it and striking it accurately.

Xu also expects future operations to be carried out in formations rather than by single ships. Zunyi has begun training with several formations to find effective ship combinations, he said. The report added that the ship treats deep-sea anti-submarine warfare as a key research topic.

An anecdote about a shadowing ship

In another article on the same ship, Huanqiu relayed an account from crew member Zhang Jun. During routine training, a foreign warship shadowed Zunyi as it sailed at high speed, then suddenly lost main power and electricity, with its radar transmissions stopping and navigation lights going out for nearly half an hour. Zhang said Zunyi's own equipment and personnel had no problems.

The anecdote rests entirely on the statements of Zunyi's crew. The other warship's nationality, name and the date were not mentioned, and nothing has been independently confirmed. Asked whether he felt nervous, a crew member answered that targets within range could be destroyed, a remark that should be read as carrying a strong state-media promotional tone.

On military matters, Sinobridge Times separates what Chinese media say from what outside sources can verify. The coverage can be seen as part of messaging in which the Chinese Navy stresses anti-submarine capability and formation operations, while actual results and figures can be judged only as more public data becomes available.