China Has Turned a Small Container Feeder Into an Arsenal Ship

The U.S. Navy wants to compete with China's PLA Navy for sea control in the Western Pacific, which would be essential to defending U.S. allies and protecting American economic interests in the region. But year on year, China's naval fleet continues to grow and modernize, adding more (and more credible) combatant vessels to the order of battle. On Thursday, new open-source imagery from downtown Shanghai showed that the contest could get harder: the photos show that the People's Liberation Army has outfitted a standard container feeder with most of the trappings of a frigate, with an abundance of missile capacity.

The vessel in question, Zhong Da 79, is a Chinese-flagged container feeder of about 320 feet in length. She has no IMO number or Equasis record, consistent with a purely domestic vessel. AIS data from Pole Star Global shows that she only engages in coastwise trade along China's eastern and southern seaboard.

Zhong Da 79's trackline suggests that the vessel has spent months undergoing a refit over the past year. She put into a small regional shipyard in Longhai in mid-April, emerging again in mid-August. Ever since, she has been moored alongside an industrial pier on the Huangpu River near downtown Shanghai.

VLS count estimate for this specific configuration:
- 4x VLS per ISO container
- 4-5x containers abreast
- 3x containers longitudinally placed at full fitout

48-60 VLS onboard total?

These seem like full sized VLS too, could be H/AJK-16, UVLS or something in between. https://t.co/tRjvz6EHodpic.twitter.com/9R1OtLWNis

— Rick Joe (@RickJoe_PLA) December 25, 2025

A coastal vessel of such a small size hardly registers in most assessments of national maritime strength. Nonetheless, Zhong Da 79 appears to be large enough to host 60 full size containerized missile cells, an air defense radar, a close-in weapons system, and potentially more equipment in other containers on deck. Measured purely by missile capacity, this is nearly twice the firepower planned for the U.S. Navy's Constellation-class frigate, which was recently canceled due to delays and cost overruns.

Zhong Da 79 lacks the speed, shock hardening and compartmentalization of a real frigate, and would be vulnerable if unescorted. The challenge is in China's vast potential for making many more, and cheaply. China's flag (including Hong Kong) covers nearly 8,000 vessels, and Chinese beneficial owners hold another 4,400 ships under other nations' registries. China's industrial base is well-equipped to deliver the military hardware and shipyard man-hours to conduct conversions or deliver additional newbuild units. At minimum, in a high-end fight, a boxship/arsenal ship would complicate planning and absorb scarce precision munitions. At maximum, such a vessel class could deliver effective antiaircraft or antiship missile fire, hide amongst civilian vessel traffic, and be replaced rapidly if lost.