Type 076 LHD/LHA discussion

Heliox said:

Then why design it with a well deck and vehicle decks?
Those are very significant chunks of internal volume that is very amphib ops specific and of zero use to sustaining aviation ops.

If what you posit were to be the case, the Type 76 would have been designed like the lead-in block of the America Class. No well decks. No vehicle decks. Aviation-centric design with extended hangar, bunker and magazines. Limited amphib role based on what can be injected OTH via the rotary wing (Ospreys/Stallions).

Can a LHD design perform an aviation support role? It's possible. But the ability to do so effectively and in a sustained manner really depends on the internal volume allocation between amphib and aviation.

Form follows Function.

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The primary function is amphibious operations.
But I'd be surprised if an LHD even spent half its available time on amphibious operations.

So what about the rest of the time?

The secondary function is air operations, as an escort/auxiliary carrier

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Just look at US Navy doctrine with respect to LHDs.
They're building a new class of LSTs because LHDs are too big, expensive and vulnerable for operations in the First Island Chain

So in a US-China conflict, are these LHDs going to be sitting around in port doing nothing?

Or will the US Navy load the LHDs with aircraft, and use them to support the fleet carriers in the Western Pacific?

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Also note that US Navy LHDs would primarily operate the F-35B.
In comparison, Chinese LHDs would be expected to primarily operate ISR and maybe subsonic strike aircraft

So we could expect fuel and munitions storage requirements to be lower for the Chinese.
There is also a geographic advantage where Chinese ships can resupply a lot easier.

AndrewS said:

Also note that US Navy LHDs would primarily operate the F-35B.
In comparison, Chinese LHDs would be expected to primarily operate ISR and maybe subsonic strike aircraft

So we could expect fuel and munitions storage requirements to be lower for the Chinese.
There is also a geographic advantage where Chinese ships can resupply a lot easier.

Click to expand...

It's going to depend on how the UAV trials pan out. If they're successful then there might be more of a role for Sichuan to support fleet operations. But there are a lot of ifs attached to this, and the PLAN seems to be too conservative to employ major vessels in unproven and immature missions. These expanded roles will be many years in the future. I also suspect that the 076 will never get any fighter planes.

In the short term, I imagine that any US - China conflict can only be over Taiwan so the role of the 076 is going to be supporting amphibious operations up to and until the PLA takes over the main and surrounding islands. Afterwards, I think that if Sichuan is sent out to the Pacific Ocean, its primary role will be to carry helicoptors for ASW and search and rescue roles.