The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) commissioned the 41st Type 056/056A Jiangdao-class corvette into service this month, according to local media reports. The commissioning ceremony of the new corvette, christened Nanchong, reportedly took place at a naval port in Guangdong province in Southern China in the presence of representatives of the Nanchong, a city located the northeast of China’s Sichuan province, in the beginning of 2018 June.

056A型護衛艦是中國自行研製生產的新一代輕型護衛艦，艦長89米，寬11米，滿載排水量1400餘噸。艦上裝備了多套中國自主研發的新型武器裝備，信息化程度高，隱身性能好，具有較強的防空、反潛和對海作戰能力。

056A型輕型護衛艦採用深V、長橋樓船型，適航性較好，可提供較大艦體空間。採用隱隱身設計，艦體外飄，上層建築內傾，形成一條貫穿艦體前後的折線，艦面上的設備如小艇、魚雷發射管都遮落敗蔽處理。艦艉部有直升機甲板，但沒有設置機庫。與以住的056不同是的，其艦艉出現了一個巨大的設備投放艙門，為在056基礎改進的專職反潛護衛艦。

同056相比，056A主要強化了反潛能力。

Based on a calculation by IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly, the Nanchong is the 41st Type 056/056A Jiangdao-class corvette to enter service with the PLAN. The last Type 056/56A corvette, dubbed Wuhai, was commissioned at a naval port in the city of Dalian in China’s Liaoning province on January 16. Two additional ships of the class, designated by the PLAN as light missile frigates, were put into service in November 2017. The commissioning of another stealth corvette has so far not officially been confirmed by the Chinese Ministry of National Defense.

Type 056/056A corvettes have been designed and built for patrol and escort operations in the exclusive economic zones of China within 200 nautical miles from the Chinese coastline and are are built in two variants: a multi-purpose Type 056 and a specialized anti-submarine warfare (ASW) variant Type 056A, which is equipped with variable depth sonars used for detecting and tracking submarines.

056型護衛艦, 056型反潛護衛艦（北約代號：江島級，Jiangdao Class）中國人民解放軍海軍自2013年起大規模裝備的一種輕型護衛艦。該艦集成多型武器裝備，具有較好的隱身性和較強的電磁兼容性。056型護衛艦主要擔負海上巡邏警戒、護漁護航、單獨或協同執行反潛或對海作戰等任務，是解放軍海軍基地防禦的主戰裝備。