Yuan Wang 7

HINDI maiwasang magtanong ang madla kung bakit dito sa Sasa Wharf ng Davao City dumadaong ang Chinese People’s Liberation Army naval vessels at maging kanilang aircraft sa tuwing mapadaan o pumupunta sila ng Pilipinas. 

Noong Biyernes, dumaong ang bagong-bagong Yuan Wang 7,  isang  maritime space monitoring and control vessel na pag-aari ng pamahalaan, partikular na, ng People’s Liberation Army ng China. Dumating ang Yuan Wang 7 dito pagkatapos ng pagdating din ng Yuan Wang 3 noong June 16 dito rin sa Sasa Wharf na sinundan naman ng paglapag ng Chinese government jet na nag-refuel nga lang daw dito sa Davao International Airport.

Ayon sa mga ulat ang Yuan Wang 7 is reportedly one of the Yuanwang-class (meaning “Long View”) vessels operated by the Chinese Navy for tracking and support of satellite and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). Ayon sa Global Times, ang Yuan Wang 7 ‘will perform maritime space monitoring and control missions during the deployment’.

Kung tutuusin nga ay ang pagdating dito ng Yua Wang 7 at parte ng kanyang maiden deployment sa Indian Ocean matapos ito umalis ng Shanghai port noong August 14. Ang sabi ay pinayagan naman daw ng Department of Foreign Affairs ang pagdaong ng Yuan Wang 7 dito sa Sasa Wharf at aalis din agad ito bukas pagkatapos nitong mag-replenish ng supply. Tinatayang may nakalaan ding isang organized tour habang nandito sa Davao City ang mga crew ng barko.

Heto pa ang ilang kaalaman sa Yuan Wang 7: According to reports, the  Yuan Wang vessels belong to the China Satellite Launch and Tracking Control General, which is responsible for telemetry, tracking, and command for Chinese space missions. The vessels observe trajectories and provide survey and control capabilities as rockets fly downrange.

It was also said that the construction of Yuanwang 7 started on Oct. 10, 2014 in Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co., Ltd and she was launched on July 12, 2016. The 220 meter-long, 40 meter-high ship has a displacement of 25,000 tons and an endurance of 100 days.

Further reports likewise said that Yuan Wang  7 vessel was involved in the Shenzhou-11 manned space mission and the debut launch of the heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket using three large dish antennae some 10-12 meters in diameter. The vessel was also set to play a role in the Chang’e-5 Moon sample return mission launch in late November, but the mission has been delayed due to the failure of the second Long March 5 rocket in July.

China is known to boast of a  a fleet of seven Yuanwang space tracking ships, which have carried out some 70 expeditions and traveled more than 1.5 million nautical miles in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. The Yuanwang-1 and Yuanwang-2 ships, China’s first-generation space tracking vessels, were launched in 1979, making China the fourth country to master space tracking technology after the United States, Russia and France. Reports also indicated that  the two  Yuanwang-class vessels, Yuanwang 21 and 22, are used to transport large Long March 7 and Long March 5 rockets from the port city of Tianjin in the north to the launch centre at Wenchang on the southern island province of Hainan.