re: PLAN Type 071 LPD & its Landing Craft
Again, to your more specific arguments on why it's arrangement can't support multiple rows, those are all things that could be modified on the next iteration or fixed on the current unit once they've tested it out. It's hard to imagine adding mooring lines on the deck would be cost prohibitive. I think they are still busy testing the performance of it in deep water while carrying that weight in the middle.
This is all true, and I hope that is the case.
Imo, it's very unlikely 071 would carry 4 LCACs.
Why? You have been showing various fanart and trying to convince me of the dimensions of this LCAC based on those, even though it looks obvious to me at least one of the diagrams is way off mark. The model I'm talking about is an official PLAN model, and it unambiguously shows 4 hovercraft in the well deck. Unless and until I see a full well deck maxed out at only 2 or 3, then I think it's safe for me to assume 4 is magic number.
your only argument against PLAN LCAC being able to load a MBT is that you haven't seen the evidence for it. My argument is that it could be used to loading IFVs, humvees and trucks, but if it can't load a MBT, it brings no new capability to the table.
Note that I'm not actually arguing that it absolutely cannot load an MBT. Maybe it can, and I've said that a couple times already. I'm just not as certain as either you or Lion and have been giving reasons why an MBT capability is not necessarily written in the stars for this LCAC.
And I don't agree about the lack of new capabilities. It brings not only new capabilities, but I consider what this LCAC brings as an actual force multiplier for the PLAN, on the order of importance of systems like airborne refueling and AWACS for the PLAAF. Even if it can't load tanks, like I said, it can load just about anything else and bring them to places the PLAN could never had dreamed of before, places amphibious ships could never touch. Being able to assault 70% of the world's beaches rather than just 15% is an unprecedented capability for the PLAN, and being able to lift MBT's there would just be icing on the cake, not even close to make-or-break as you are suggesting.
you are talking about PLAN here, they have limited gas turbine production capabilities. They only have QC-70, QC-100 and QC-280 that's ready to be produced. We have no evidence that they've imported anything else from Zorya.
The estimates of the HP of the QC-70 could be inaccurate, or the PLAN is using a gas turbine locally designed or foreign sourced that we don't know about. Remember that netizens weren't even sure this hovercraft existed several years ago despite the official model showing 4 of them in the well deck. People were speculating the 071 was only going to load LCU's and such. Then lo and behold real life photos of the LCAC start popping up on the internet, and there was much rejoicing. There is alot we don't know, and it is especially true in the case of the Chinese military that absence of evidence not be taken as evidence of absence. What I see before my eyes is 4 cylindrical objects that look like GT engines, situated in the right locations, just like the USMC LCAC. And there are 4 of them, just like the USMC LCAC. I will believe that before I believe any netizen speculation on the specs of the QC-70 or whatever engine the thing is using.
well, bring out your demonstration. If we use the attached photo as the diagram and it shows the side loading ramp and where it thinks the well deck starts and finish. And if we use the estimated length of 210 m from bow to stern.
Also, consider that the length of 30+m was measured based on GE tools commonly available. If you can find it on google maps, you'd be able to measure all of these.
Not my demonstration. I saw some photos with estimates drawn onto them a while back, either on this forum or somewhere else on the internet. And I would like to see a GE tooled estimate of this LCAC. I haven't seen anybody post such a photo. It would actually resolve alot of debate on length, width, capacity, etc.
