China has armed an outdated destroyer of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) with the naval version of the Russian-made surface-to-air missile (SAM) that destroyed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) over Ukraine on July 17, 2014.

The Type 051B Luhai-class destroyer Shenzhen, the only ship in its class, will return to service with the PLAN in the coming months armed with a 32-cell vertical launch system capable of firing HHQ-16 SAMs missiles with a range of 30 kilometers and a maximum speed of 3,460 km/h.

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The HHQ-16 is China's designation for the navalized version of the BUK missile system Ukrainian separatists with assistance from Russian advisers used to shoot down MH-17 killing all 298 innocent civilians on board. 

The major weapons upgrade to the Shenzen also includes the mounting of four 37 mm twin anti-aircraft guns and two Type 1130 30 mm autocannon close-in weapon systems. The Shenzhen's surface and air search radars were also upgraded to remove blind spots in the previous system's visible range.

The Shenzhen, which became operational in 1999, will return to sea duty amid continuing tensions in the South China Sea, which China has refused to abandon despite an international arbitration tribunal ruling last July 12 China has no legal right to claim this sea as its own.

The original land based version of the HHQ-16 is the Russian-made 9M38M SAM. The 9M38 missile is 5.55 meters long, weighs 690 kilograms and carries a massive 70 kilogram warhead triggered by a radar proximity fuze that detonates a short distance from its target aircraft. It has a range of 72,000 feet.

There are two versions of the BUK missile system: the older SA-11 (NATO reporting name, Gadfly) and the newer SA-17 (NATO reporting name, Grizzly). The Russian naval version of this missile is the Gollum/Shtil-2 missile system.

The 6,000 ton Shenzhen is attached to the PLAN's South Sea Fleet with headquarters at the Yulin Naval Base on Hainan Island.

TagsMalaysia Airlines Flight 17, MH17, Type 051B Luhai-class destroyer Shenzhen, HHQ-16, BUK missile system