Another view from the ground level. Posted by @T-kun_CG on Weibo.
Type 076 LHD/LHA discussion
- Thread starter banjex
- Start date
Speaking of which:
There has been no new 071 LPDs known to be procured ever since the final unit for the PLAN left the drydock in mid-2019.
For a country with a much more acute need of large-scale amphibious assault capabilities than anyone else - Stopping at only 8 LPDs seems to be rather odd.
(In the meantime, the USMC is aiming for more than triple that number for their San Antonio LPDs.)
Besides, if the original plan for 8 075 LHDs is to be fully followed through + any subsequent 076 LHDs to follow, China could potentially operate the largest fleet of LHDs in the world, and perhaps also become the only country to operate more (proper) LHDs than (proper) LPDs.
In this regard, could there be a possibility where the 075 and 076 LHDs could (partially) succeed (but not fully replace) the 071 LPDs in the ARG's position, whereby the LHDs would then be further supplemented through requisitioning civilian RORO ships that are available in larger numbers?
Just a curious idea.
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Probably indicative of the type of fight and with whom China is expecting in the future.
Other major surface combatants, including the 075 and 076, require significantly more time to be constructed and fielded compared to the 071. If I were planning a major amphibious operation involving a large island, I would prioritize the production of other types of ships, while building only a sufficient number of 071s for training and routine missions. Additional 071s would be constructed only as the conflict approached.
This also has the distinct benefit of misleading the opponent into underestimating my amphibious capabilities until the latest possible moment. The shipyards aren't going to sit empty after this wave of 055s, 052Ds, and the rumored 075s. So I am expecting at least 4 to 8 more 071s to be built in the latter half of this decade.
Of course, this is just my theory. Whether it's true or not, we can only wait and see.
lcloo
Captain
IMO, type 071, 075 and 076 each play a not so slightly different roles in an amphibious assault.
Type 071 has 4 LCAC, a hangar for 2 Z8 helicopter (plus 2 more on landing deck if needed). The 4 LCAC would be key asset to deliver non-amphibious tanks like type 96 and type 15. The ship can also launch several dozen amphibious tanks and IFVs. Thus type 071 is designed with bias favouring on delivery of armoured vehicles rather than foot soldiers and mountain cat type of vehicles.
I don't know how many LCAC can be fitted inside type 075, but it is obvious that it would mainly be used to airlift foot soldiers and light vehicles for speedy landings. It's LCAC can carry MBTs just as type 071 do, but airlift would be its main strength, especially if assault landing zone would be located far inland.
We still have very limited knowledge on Type 076. The obvious feature that we have seen is its catapult. It would carry a lot of helicopters and a lot of drones. There is a wide range of uses for drones and helicopters for offensive, defensive, medical evac, recon etc, and due to its displacement size, it's capability to deliver assault forces onto the beach would not be less than type 071 and type 075.
How they would be deployed individually or in combination depends on the mission and scale of the assault operation.
Type 071 has 4 LCAC, a hangar for 2 Z8 helicopter (plus 2 more on landing deck if needed). The 4 LCAC would be key asset to deliver non-amphibious tanks like type 96 and type 15. The ship can also launch several dozen amphibious tanks and IFVs. Thus type 071 is designed with bias favouring on delivery of armoured vehicles rather than foot soldiers and mountain cat type of vehicles.
I don't know how many LCAC can be fitted inside type 075, but it is obvious that it would mainly be used to airlift foot soldiers and light vehicles for speedy landings. It's LCAC can carry MBTs just as type 071 do, but airlift would be its main strength, especially if assault landing zone would be located far inland.
We still have very limited knowledge on Type 076. The obvious feature that we have seen is its catapult. It would carry a lot of helicopters and a lot of drones. There is a wide range of uses for drones and helicopters for offensive, defensive, medical evac, recon etc, and due to its displacement size, it's capability to deliver assault forces onto the beach would not be less than type 071 and type 075.
How they would be deployed individually or in combination depends on the mission and scale of the assault operation.
They probably bet on landing craft, LSTs and of course ferries to carry stuff to Taiwan. I believe the LHD build-up is aimed at more distant things like Japanese ECS islands. Having proper warships with endurance, air defenses, C2, speed, etc would be beneficial for those locations. The Type 071 might have been just a step to LHDs.
Compared to say 25 years ago, anti-ship missiles today are much much more widespread. This makes performing an amphibious assault operation by sea more difficult. Resorting to a more aviation centric strategy might make more sense today.
Therefore instead of building 2 LPD's for every 1 LHD (like the US navy), China will build 1 LHD and 1 LHA for every 1 LPD.
Just a guess who knows?
Very unlikely, the amount of men and materiel needed to ne transported per day , for that scale of operation, would even outstrip US military's vertical lift + paradrop capacity. Unless you have a number of airstrips secured and available on day 1. Air assets are also vulnerable to a much wider array of land based weapons than amphibious ships.
Like Boratas said, for operations at a range of 75‐150 nm, there isn't much of a necessity for 20k+ tonne amphibious ships. Ships in the 500 - 5000 tonne range would be usually sufficient. Shipes like 072A probably would be something PLAN would need in larger numbers, and smaller assets like LCUs in the 500-1000 range mostly would also be able to make the trip. And for parts of the operation that require speed in crossing, larger LCACs would be a decent fit.