Yanxi-class weapon trials ship

The Yanxi class weapon trials ship is a class of little known naval auxiliary ship of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).^[1] The name of this class is after the first unit commissioned, with the exact type still remains unknown.^[1] Contrary to the usual naming conventions of Chinese military where the ship is designated by a combination of two Chinese characters followed by three-digit number, the Yanxi class is designated by only a single Chinese character, which is Xun (训), short for Xun-Lian (训练), meaning training in Chinese, because these ships of this class is also used as training ships, but only a single unit of this class has been built.^[1] However, the pennant numbers may have changed due to the change of Chinese naval ships naming convention.

Class overview
Operators	People's Liberation Army Navy
General characteristics
Class and type	Yanxi
Displacement	1,200 t (1,200 long tons; 1,300 short tons)
Length	60 m (196 ft 10 in)
Beam	11 m (36 ft 1 in)
Draught	3.5 m (11 ft 6 in)
Propulsion	2 × marine diesel engines, 2,200 hp (1,641 kW) 2 shafts
Speed	16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Troops	30 instructor + 200 cadet
Complement	170
Sensors and processing systems	Various
Electronic warfare & decoys	Various
Armament	1 twin 37 mm gun, 2 twin 14.5 mm gun
Aircraft carried	None
Aviation facilities	None

The Yanxi class carried no systems other than anti-aircraft guns and radars, but it did support Soviet Styx surface-to-surface missile (SSM) launch and recovery during tests.^[1] In addition to weapon trials ship, the Yanxi class is also used as a training ship, and it can carry thirty instructors with two hundred cadets when used in that role.^[2] With more advanced and larger weapon trials ships and training ships entering Chinese service to replace its original weapon trials and training role, Yanxi class has been mainly carrying out drone launch and recovery trials to support the development of naval UAVs.^[2]

Class	Pennant #	Commissioned	Status
Yanxi	Xun 701	1970	Active

References

1. "Yanxi class weapon trials ship". Afcea International. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
2. "Yanxi class". Retrieved 3 August 2015.