The Sovremenny class are guided-missile destroyers, primarily tasked with anti-ship warfare, while also providing sea and air defense for warships and transports under escort.

The class was designed to complement the Udaloy-class destroyers, which were fitted primarily for anti-submarine operations.

To respond to this new threat, Project 956 was updated with a new air defence suite and new, powerful 3M80 anti-ship missiles.

A total of 17 were built for the Russian Navy, but currently, only six remain in service due to a lack of funds and trained personnel.

The ship is outfitted with the Raduga Moskit anti-ship missile system with two four-cell launchers installed port and starboard of the forward island and set at an angle of about 15°.

The missile is sea-skimming with a velocity of Mach 2.5, armed with a 300-kilogram (660 lb) high-explosive or a nuclear 200 kt warhead.

Two Shtil surface-to-air missile systems are installed, each on the raised deck behind the twin-barrelled 130 mm guns.

The Project 956 destroyer is fitted with an electronic countermeasures system and carries a store of 200 rockets for the two decoy dispensers, model PK-2.

ECM and ESM are many: 2 ESM MR-410 or MP-405; 2 ECM MRP-11M or 12M ('Bell Shroud'), 2 'Bell Squat', 4 'Football B' and one MR-407; 2 PK-2M rocket launchers (140 mm), and 8 PK-10 (120 mm), 2–8 laser warning receiver systems Spektr-F, one Squeeze Box (TV, laser and IR system).

Medium and high frequencies (M/HF) MGK-355 Platina integrated sonar system with NATO reporting name Bull Horn, including the MG-335 hull-mounted array.

Type 956 originally only carries the hull-mounted array because the ASW gear of this class is primarily for self-defence.

The ship's propulsion system is based on two steam turbine engines each producing 37,000 kW (50,000 hp) together with four high-pressure boilers.

[3] The Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force (PLAN) had two modified Sovremenny-class destroyers delivered in December 1999 and November 2000, designated as Project 956E,[4] with improved electronic gears.

Each 3R87E combat module has two 30 mm GSh-30k six-barrel automatic guns (range 0.5–4 km (0.31–2.49 mi)) and two SA-N-11 air defence missiles.

This improved 956EM version is also the first to be armed with the newer version of SS-N-22, which is reported to have a designation of 3-M80MBE and possibly funded by China (according to Russian sources), and the new missile differs from the older ones mainly in that the range is increased from 120 km (75 mi) to 200 km (120 mi).

As of 2016, Hangzhou was reported to be undergoing refit with its original components replaced with domestic systems.