By Duan Jiangshan and Xu Guang
ZHANJIANG, Aug. 22 (ChinaMil) -- At the invitation of the Royal Australian Navy, the Chinese naval guided-missile frigate Huangshan (Hull 570), carrying a ship-borne helicopter, set sail for Australia from Zhanjiang, south China’s Guangdong Province, to participate in the multinational naval exercise “Kakadu-2018”, on the morning of Aug. 21, 2018.
The frigate Huangshan will, on behalf of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, join with multinational naval warships and aircraft to participate in the exercise in Darwin, Australia and its adjacent waters from Aug. 31 to Sept. 15.
It is reported that Exercise Kakadu is the largest multinational maritime exercise hosted biennially by the Royal Australian Navy. This is the first time the Chinese Navy has been invited to participate in the exercise since it began in 1993.
The frigate Huangshan (Hull 570), a new-type guided-missile frigate independently developed by China, with its hull 135m long and 16m wide at the maximum, joined the PLA Navy in 2008. Its full-load displacement is more than 4,000 tons. It has good stealth performance, far-distance guard and detection ability, and strong anti-aircraft and anti-submarine capabilities.
Since its service, the frigate has successfully implemented the Chinese naval escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and of the sea transport of Syrian chemical weapons and participated in domestic and international joint training and exercises.