075 LHD thread
- Thread starter nosh
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Amphibious ships are very cheap in contrast of its size. Thailand purchased an up-speced 071 for 200 million usd. While Pakistan didn't make their number public it's estimated to be around 350 mission which is near twice the price of a 071. What contributes most to 075's (and 071's) tonnage are "storage" space for their on board marine force and air wing and hull as we all know only cost a small portion of total cost of a modern warship.
Other than hull itself, 075 carries mostly same sensors as a 054A. Some of them more modern and expensive like the dual face AESA but in the near future they would come to 054A in a upgrade package too. 075 also use CODAD just as 054A albeit with more powerful engine. 075 has all the additional facility for air operation, dock, command deck and stuff but more importantly it only carries a fraction of armament compare to 054A which also cost a lot. Among all these comparison I would confidently say it's quite plausible cost of a 075 wouldn't be too much more than a newly built 054A/A+/B or whatever.
Plus that many expert (I know, take a huge chunk of salt if you like) including some from PLA has said on TV or in their article that 075 would be cheaper (yes I know quite some claim) than a 054A. I won't take their words for it but I'm also pretty sure you won't be able to buy 2 054A with the cost of 1 075.
Other than hull itself, 075 carries mostly same sensors as a 054A. Some of them more modern and expensive like the dual face AESA but in the near future they would come to 054A in a upgrade package too. 075 also use CODAD just as 054A albeit with more powerful engine. 075 has all the additional facility for air operation, dock, command deck and stuff but more importantly it only carries a fraction of armament compare to 054A which also cost a lot. Among all these comparison I would confidently say it's quite plausible cost of a 075 wouldn't be too much more than a newly built 054A/A+/B or whatever.
Plus that many expert (I know, take a huge chunk of salt if you like) including some from PLA has said on TV or in their article that 075 would be cheaper (yes I know quite some claim) than a 054A. I won't take their words for it but I'm also pretty sure you won't be able to buy 2 054A with the cost of 1 075.
Do we even know as to what standard 075 or 071 etc are built? If they built like semi-commercial warships like the Ex HMS-Ocean or the Mistral class then the price could be close to a frigate. For reference a complex warship like HMS Albion or Bulwark was built for around £400m per ship where as HMS Ocean was built for around £300m.
What do you mean 'standard'? Commercial ships are built to withstand carrying at least two to three times of its own weight. A ship that is 60k tons empty can gross over 200k tons. I don't think you need that for a warship. You needs lots of compartmentation instead.
You can also say the same with certain commercial ships. LNG carriers for example. A huge part of these ships have to be made with steel that can withstand cryogenic temperatures because you're going to fill double walls and compartments with liquid nitrogen. The higher the tensile strength of the steel, the more difficult it is to cut, weld, and shape into the proper members, requiring ever larger machine presses. Survivability and redundancy are always in mind otherwise you cannot insure these ships, and to get insurance the ship and its design has to be approved by an international body. The sinking of a large containership represents liabilities in the billions and billions, especially when the cargo contained is very valuable. If your oil tanker is leaking after it gets rammed, the oil spill it generates would result in billions of dollars of liabilities in environmental damage, and the ship will likely be arrested and held in port by the country whose sea environment you damaged. The lessons of not just the Exxon Valdez, but also the Tanker Wars in the Persian Gulf is well kept in mind, that you might want your tankers to be resistant against aggressive acts by certain countries. Each country has their own safety standards when it comes to LNG, oil, container transport, etc., and you not only have to conform to one country's standards, you have to conform to all the countries standards that your ship intends to travel. A port city cannot afford let's say, an LNG, LPG or ethylene gas carrier going boom in its harbor, you cannot imagine the casualties this will cause.
So each kind of ship has their own set of standards. Also the PLA has its own exhaustive set of standards, China's large fleet of ferries and ROROs are all designed to military standards, no matter how innocently civilian looking they are, and you obviously understand the hidden and ominous intent for this. Its likely that the 075 isn't built to the standards of containerships longer than the Eiffel Tower --- which Hudong Zhonghua makes, or LNG carriers --- which Hudong Zhonghua also makes, because the meant criteria is different. It will conform to what the PLAN requires.
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Just curious here, but does anyone have any idea on why the construction of 075 LHDs are stopped at just mere 3 ships?
It is said (according to Wikipedia and some Chinese sources) that the next batch would have 5 ships in total, which brings to the total planned number of 8 ships for the 075-class. However, there has been zero indication on the contruction of the remainder 5 members of the 075-class ever being initiated.
This is in line with the Taiwan question being brought closer to criticality as time passes by - Shouldn't PLAN be more concerned with acquiring more 075s at faster pace in order to meet the demand for a future hypothetical war across the strait?
Or is it that the PLAN would prefer to transfer the orders for the remainder 5 members of the 075-class to the succeeding 076 LHDs, like how the PLAN cancelled the last few 054A FFGs and allocated their initial orders to newer 054B FFGs?
It is said (according to Wikipedia and some Chinese sources) that the next batch would have 5 ships in total, which brings to the total planned number of 8 ships for the 075-class. However, there has been zero indication on the contruction of the remainder 5 members of the 075-class ever being initiated.
This is in line with the Taiwan question being brought closer to criticality as time passes by - Shouldn't PLAN be more concerned with acquiring more 075s at faster pace in order to meet the demand for a future hypothetical war across the strait?
Or is it that the PLAN would prefer to transfer the orders for the remainder 5 members of the 075-class to the succeeding 076 LHDs, like how the PLAN cancelled the last few 054A FFGs and allocated their initial orders to newer 054B FFGs?
Usually I would associate periods of production breaks that the ships are being assessed for data and any experiences and lessons are going to be harvested and incorporated to the design of the next ships. In other words, don't keep on building the same ship and repeating the same mistake every time into a large number of ships. You need to assess, redraw, and improve. The same goes with other ships like the Type 055 and 003.