PLAN Fleet supply vessels

lcloo said:

I somehow have doubt that PLAN aircraft carriers need to cruise at 26 knots constantly in current and near future needs. We are imposing the 26 knots need based on other navy's needs, example USN aircraft carrier needs to sprint at 26 knots from West coast navy port of US continent to Japan or Guam, or from the East coast USA to Arabian sea. Speed is essential for US World police roles, or to go round the Cape of Good Hope from North Atlantics to Arabian Gulf.

Unless China wants to be another World police, then their main operational areas will still be on the West Pacific. The mission roles of China's aircraft carrier groups would still mainly on denying USN combat groups interventions in West Pacific and South China Sea.

Since PLAN's operations are still regional, they can easily reach any location with 2,000km from any Chinese shores within days with carrier base aircrafts and shore base aircraft with support of tankers.

May be in the far future when China changed its mind and decided to go on global combat patrol with its aircraft battle group, then we would be seeing another new type of real high speed replenishment support ships in the dry dock, but not now.

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Tomboy said:

View attachment 175329
Most if not all superstructure has already been installed on the new replenishment ship, this could possibly mean launch is possibly within the year.

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00CuriousObserver said:

Shilao in CHH: For a ship at this level, its power system is certainly a step up from previous ships, including the 901. Its speed should also match that of a fast support ship. These are points worth paying attention to going forward.

But I'm not sure whether he's saying this based on inside info or just based on reasoning. It sounds like the latter.

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First, a class generally retains the same designation only when its basic hull configuration and propulsion system remain largely unchanged.

Take the Type 054A and Type 054B, for example. The latter is essentially an enlarged version of the same basic hull form, without any major changes to the hull lines, while the diesel engine was changed from the 16V280STC to the 16V270.

By the same logic, the Type 901 hull form was enlarged into a larger replenishment ship. Since both the basic hull form and the designation were retained, its propulsion system was almost certainly still CODAD, probably even retaining the same four-diesel arrangement.

Then the Type 901A designation appeared and was confirmed beyond doubt, showing that it belongs to the same family of hull designs. Satellite imagery also showed four diesel engines, further confirming that the propulsion system remained within the same series.

What appeared next was surprising, but it also validated the earlier reasoning behind identifying it as a Type 901. For example, instead of a specific model designation such as 16PC2-6B, the available information showed only 16PC2-6, with no suffix letter, and a total of four engines. The basic logical conclusion is therefore that the ship uses an unidentified version of the same diesel-engine family. It may have received a modest power increase, but nothing excessive.

As for the other claims about the Type 901A’s propulsion system, there is only one possible reaction:

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