heads up: New amphibious ship
- Thread starter planeman
- Start date
MIGleader
Banned Idiot
If you take a look at this pic swimmer posted in the picture thread, it seems like china already has a few of these landing ships.
so the ship we see is not a new build after all, but a follow on of what appears to be new model of small landing ship. Perhaps the successor to the type 271.
tphuang said:
It would be a much wiser investment for China to construct some LPH or LHDs before it tries for a full fledged aircraft carrier.
These boats displace and cost less than full fledged carriers yet they would involve a lot of similar technologies as carriers that China can experiment with on a smaller cheaper scale.
It would spur helicopter purchases and development which appears to be lagging behind that of fixed wing aircraft. And with the diverse geography that China must deal with and the importance of logistical and humanitarian missions, increased investment in helicopter development makes sense, as well as having LPHs or LPDs handy.
Politically LPHs and LPDs are also less threatening and alarming than carriers as they do not posses the same offensive capability.
On the other hand, in strict terms of offensive power these boats would contribute little in a Taiwan scenario. However in the later stages of a PLA assault that successfully guarantees some safety for these ships their helicopters could be used for quick reinforcement, clean up, psychological warfare, or support operations especially in the less accessible areas.
This is actually a critical capability that China otherwise would lack. Because in the event of conflict PLA forces already in the Taiwan theatre would already be stretched and taken casualties while LPHs or LPDs could initially be held in reserve and relative safety outside the theatre and moved in quickly after some measure of naval or air superiority can be guaranteed.
