Navy expands amphibious assault fleet

The People's Liberation Army Navy has commissioned its fourth Type 075 amphibious assault ship, naming it after Central China's Hubei province.

The South Sea Fleet published on Saturday a video clip titled "Pennant number 34! CNS Hubei officially unveiled". The clip showed the vast vessel sailing alongside CNS Hainan, the first in the Type 075 class, and several Type 071 landing platform docks in what appeared to be a formation exercise.

The fleet noted that the ships were undergoing extensive training in recent days in the South China Sea.

Designed by the Marine Design and Research Institute of China, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp and a major developer of the nation's amphibious warships and landing craft, the Type 075 is China's first class of amphibious assault ships and is much bigger than all previous models of amphibious warfare ships in the country.

So far, four Type 075 ships — regarded in the West as a class of landing helicopter dock, or LHD, vessels — have been built by Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in Shanghai, a major shipbuilder under China State Shipbuilding Corp, and have been deployed in the PLA Navy, with observers saying these colossal ships have extensively boosted the Navy's amphibious operational capability.

The first Type 075, CNS Hainan, was unveiled in September 2019 and commissioned into the South Sea Fleet in April 2021, putting an end to the absence of a large helicopter carrier in the PLA Navy.

The second, CNS Guangxi, was delivered in April 2022 with the East Sea Fleet. The same fleet unveiled the third such vessel, CNS Anhui, in November 2022.

According to defense technology analysts, the Type 075's flight deck is about 230 meters long and nearly 40 meters wide, and displaces nearly 40,000 metric tons of water. There are seven flight spots — six along the port side of the ship, and one behind the ship's command center. The forward aircraft elevator can carry one medium-duty helicopter with rotors folded, while the stern elevator is larger and can carry heavy-duty helicopters with rotors folded.

A naval hardware observer, who wished to be identified only as Xiao, said that considering its construction began over three years later than the first three Type 075 vessels, CNS Hubei — while remaining largely consistent with its predecessors in terms of size, overall layout and equipment — features several minor differences in terms of external designs.

"These adjustments are the result of analyzing and using experience gained from the construction and operation of the first three Type 075s. The Chinese military is good at upgrading its hardware in a methodical and gradual manner," he explained.

Besides the Type 075, China is now constructing a larger model of amphibious assault ship called the Type 076, with a displacement of more than 40,000 tons and an electromagnetic catapult. The first in the class, CNS Sichuan, was made public in December after its main body was completed at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding.

In another development, the Navy has recently revealed that CNS Fujian, China's third aircraft carrier and the world's largest carrier not built by the United States, is nearly ready to be commissioned.

The information was included in a five-episode documentary called Gong Jian, or Forging Ahead, that was produced by the military and began broadcasting on Friday.

Senior Captain Tian Wei, commander of the new carrier's aviation support section, said in an episode that his crew members "are working hard to prepare (pilots and themselves) for the use of the electromagnetic catapult as soon as possible so that the carrier will be able to undertake combat tasks as soon as it is commissioned." Footage in the TV series shows flight deck operations personnel testing the catapult and celebrating each time it worked.

CNS Fujian is the first Chinese ship to have an electromagnetic catapult, the most critical component on a supercarrier as it is responsible for launching fighter jets.

As one of the most important pieces of military hardware China is working on, CNS Fujian was officially unveiled in June 2022 in Shanghai as it was towed out of the China State Shipbuilding Corp's Jiangnan Shipyard. Since then, the gigantic vessel has undergone several trials at sea.