re: PLAN Type 071 LPD & its Landing Craft
Let's turn from such pointless posturing about endurance and the art of war and get back on topic before the fat pilot sees cause to step in, I have no wish to see this thread locked.
Considering the original Zubr armament I imagine Chinese produced AK 630 or type 730 and multi role rocket/decoy MLRS launcher will be on the cards. Zubr is really an interesting ship to fit weapons upon because it's big enough to fit a few good CIWS on but really it should never be deployed in a situation where such advanced ciws are necessary to be used in the first place, and I imagine most weapons would be for basic fire support, minimal AA (which AK 630 or type 730 can fill, although I think the latter's sensor positioning may mean AK 630 is a better choice), and breaching/clearing weapons which the multi role MLRS is good for.
Good point that Zubrs should ideally never find themselves in a situation where they would need CIWS, but in war, it is best to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
With that in mind, I think that the PLAN Zubrs will be fitted with at least one hard kill CIWS, in which case, it would be a toss up between the Chinese AK630 clone, and Type 730/1030.
Personally, I prefer the '1030 because of the added benefit of radar+thermal targeting it offers, which could prove invaluable in complicated coastal areas which might pose challenges and problems for radar alone as would be the case with the AK.
The bigger cal of the 1030 should also make it a superior direct fire support weapon compared to both the AK and 730.
The 730/1030 would also bring the added benefit that only one would more than suffice, thus freeing the other mounting for other equipment.
A decoy launcher and/or MLRS or even FL3000 launcher would all be good choices, but I personally feel a quad HJ8/9 ATGM launcher with automated reloads as seen fitted to various Chinese APCs would be more useful. Such a load out would allow the Zubr to provide very potent fire support to landing troops and allow the Zubr itself to directly engage any target it might come across, be it air, sea, infantry or even heavy armor.
Such flexibility would be of particular interest to the likes of the PLA, who are only just fielding a dedicated attack helo and who might find itself with only modest fixed wing CAS even once the Liaoning and her air wing becomes fully operational.
With HJ8/9s, the Zubr itself would be able to effectively deal with any enemy armor that might have managed to hide themselves from the opening air and naval bombardment as well as any bunkers or strong points their disembarking troops might encounter.
Having said all that, I do fear it likely that the PLAN will just slap a few AK clones on their Zubrs and call it a day.
These are potent assets, and even though it was not that long since they were ordered, today, the PLAN finds itself in a different era, and the Zubr does not neatly fit into their new plans and visions of where the PLAN wants to be in the future.
With new FFGs, DDGs, LPDs, SSKs, SSNs, SSBNs and talk of carriers and LHDs, there is a good chance the Zubr will find itself very low on the PLAN's list of priorities, and as such, there might not be all that much interest or appetite to develop the type beyond what it is already.
