The People's Liberation Army is developing a new coast guard vessel based on the design of the Type 056 corvette, reports Duowei News, a US-based Chinese political news outlet.
Recently leaked photos which show several military vessels being manufactured at a shipyard in Guangzhou reveal a new coast guard ship that strongly resembles the design of the Type 056 corvette, which entered service with the PLA Navy in 2012 as a replacement for the Type 037 series of patrol vessels.
The Type 056 corvette, with the NATO codename Jiangdao, has a displacement of nearly 1,500 tons and is equipped with anti-ship missiles, short-range air defense missiles and a 76mm main naval gun, as well as a landing pad for Harbin Z-9 helicopters.
Some media reports claim that the PLA has also rolled out a new anti-submarine version of the corvette, which has a modified stern equipped with a deep-water sonar system.
It is however unlikely that a coast guard vessel will be equipped with the same level of offensive power as a light warship, leading to suggestions that the new coast guard ship will adopt diesel engines capable of a maximum speed of around 25 knots. While it closely resembles the Type 056 in appearance, the coast guard vessel will have to undergo significant interior changes as it is used for different purposes.
It remains unclear how many modified Type 056-style vessels the China Coast Guard intends to acquire, though experts say that the costs of modifying an existing ship will be significantly lower than starting to design a new ship from scratch.
Notably, the China Coast Guard has been promoting a plan to develop a large fleet of new vessels including ships with displacements of 10,000 tons or more, Duowei said, adding that it is possible that the new vessels could be deployed to areas where China is embroiled in territorial disputes, such as the East and South China seas.