Pictures shared by local ship spotters on Sina Weibo (a Chinese social media platform) this morning show the Type 075 in and then out of the flooded dry dock where it was assembled. The shipyard will now continue outfitting work over the next few months. The first-in-class Type 075 has been spotted at Sanya naval base since December 2020.
Following its launched, the hull of the fourth Type 075 LHD was placed next to that of the recently launched Type 054B, a new generation of frigates for the PLAN:
The Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai already built the first three vessels in the class. First ship-in-class Hainan (pennant number 31) was commissioned with the PLAN during a grand ceremony on 23 April 2021 at the naval base in Sanya (Hainan island) in presence of Chinese president Xi Jinping. The vessel was launched in September 2019 and started sea trials in August 2020 . The second Type 075 Guangxi (32) was launched in April 2020, started its sea trials in December 2020 and was commissioned in December 2021. The third ship-in-class Anhui (33) was launched in January 2021, started sea trials in November 2021 and was commissioned with the PLAN’s East Sea Fleet in October 2022.
About China’s Type 075 LHD
The Chinese Navy officially started development work on the Type 075 in 2011. The project called for a helicopter carrier displacing more than 30,000 tonnes. Its aim is likely to increase the “vertical” amphibious assault capability with the very mountainous East Coast of Taiwan in mind.
The Type 075 amphibious assault carrier is roughly comparable to and only slightly smaller in dimensions to the American Tarawa- and Wasp-class amphibious assault ships, displacing around 35,000 tons. It is larger compared to French, Italian or Spanish/Australian LHD equivalents.
Continued construction of the Type 075 is part of a wider trend in PLAN modernizing and expanding amphibious capabilities across a range of vessels. Most recently, renewed construction of Zubr-class large sealift hovercraft (LCAC) was also revealed via social media imagery. In addition, production of older and smaller 072-series tank landing ships (LST) appears to be ongoing. China is furthermore producing more Type 726 LCAC, which can be carried by the Type 075 LHDs and the 8 ship strong fleet of slightly smaller Type 071 amphibious transport docks (LPDs). A new conventional landing craft (LCU or landing craft utility) supplementing Type 726, providing increased transport capacity for armored vehicles off Type 075 and Type 071, is also currently in advanced development.
Alex Luck contributed to this story.
