In the previous article, the author talked to you about a series of stories about the construction and development of the Chinese Navy, such as aircraft carriers, 055 series destroyers, submarines and so on. Today, let's talk about our country's Type 075 amphibious assault ship. Up to now, our country has launched 4 Type 075 amphibious assault ships. Of these, 3 are in service and 1 has been launched. So, compared with the American-class amphibious assault ships of the US Navy, what are the gaps between China's Type 075 dock landing ships?
First of all, let's talk about the development of amphibious landing ships in our country. Since the 50s, the PLA units have long shouldered the arduous task of large-scale sea-crossing operations and large-scale island battles. Therefore, China has successively developed Type 072, Type 073, Type 074 and Type 079 amphibious landing ships, with dozens of them. In fact, even without the Type 071 dock landing ship and the Type 075 amphibious assault ship, China's amphibious landing capability is not weak.
For example, in a series of large-scale Xi, China dispatched a large number of Type 072 and Type 073 tank landing ships, forming a relatively large landing cluster. However, China's above-mentioned amphibious landing ships mainly operate in coastal waters and lack ocean-going combat capabilities. Due to the limited tonnage, the endurance is insufficient. With the further development of China's maritime interests, there is an urgent need for all kinds of large ships, which naturally also include amphibious ships, such as dock landing ships and amphibious assault ships.
Type 071 dock landing ships, especially amphibious assault ships, have assumed the role of "quasi-aircraft carriers" in many countries. For example, the Mistral class in France, the "Juan Carlos I" class in Spain, the "Trieste" class in Italy, and so on. In addition to being able to transport all kinds of hovercraft and various armored vehicles, it can also carry Sea Harriers or F35B short-distance take-off and landing fighters, which greatly improves the comprehensive combat capability.
After entering the 21st century, with the rapid development of China's economy and the gradual development of the navy to the ocean, China has successively developed 8 Type 071 dock landing ships and 3 Type 075 amphibious assault ships. Among them, the Type 071 dock landing ship is a large dock landing ship developed by China. Divided into 2 batches. The first batch of 3 ships with a full load displacement of more than 18,000 tons. The second batch of 5 ships, the full load displacement has increased to more than 24,000 tons, and the transportation capacity has been further improved.
Type 075 Amphibious Assault Ship Type 075 amphibious assault ship belongs to the 40,000-ton amphibious assault ship developed by China, and its tonnage is basically the same as that of the American Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, second only to the United States-class amphibious assault ship. According to reports, the wide deck of the Type 075 amphibious assault ship can carry more than 20 aircraft, mainly Z-8 and Z-20. The large dock of the ship is capable of transporting 3 Type 726 amphibious hovercraft, about 80 05 series amphibious combat vehicles, and thousands of landing officers and soldiers.
Compared with various previous amphibious ships, the comprehensive combat capability of China's Type 075 amphibious assault ships has been greatly enhanced. In particular, the amphibious carrying and transportation support capabilities are basically the same as those of the United States-class amphibious assault ships, and both sides belong to 40,000-ton amphibious assault ships, and the gap is not large, and they belong to the same echelon. But in other respects, there is still a certain gap between our country and the American-class amphibious assault ships.
Transportation 05 series amphibious combat vehicles As we all know, our country has been constrained in the field of engines for a long time, and various equipment of the army, navy and air force are facing similar problems. In terms of the Type 075 amphibious assault ship, due to various reasons, the Type 075 amphibious assault ship adopts a diesel power system, and the maximum speed is only about 20 knots. In contrast, the American-class amphibious assault ship of the United States, relying on its own perfect engine system, is equipped with a gas power system, and the maximum speed has reached about 25 knots.
In fact, the Type 075 amphibious assault ship belongs to the same echelon as the American-class amphibious assault ship in terms of ship design, overall layout, stealth layout, transportation capacity, etc. However, in terms of carrier-based aircraft, it still belongs to the shortcomings of our country. At present, among the various *** in China, the straight 8 and straight 20 are the mainstay. Straight 20*** belongs to a 10-ton machine, with a maximum transportation capacity of 3About 5 tons, it is multi-purpose***
Type 726 hovercraft transport 96 type tank straight 8 series *** belongs to the 13-ton class *** divided into a series of models, among them, the final straight 8L *** belongs to the 15-ton machine, the maximum transport capacity exceeds 5 tons, can only transport vehicles below 5 tons or **. However, most of the heavy equipment of the PLA troops is far more than 5 tons, such as various vehicle-mounted artillery, wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, and so on.
The Marine Corps is in great need of heavy equipment, especially after the emergence of heavy equipment that can be used on Type 075 amphibious assault ships, it can not only transport more combat officers and soldiers, but also transport various main battle equipment such as paratrooper fighting vehicles, assault fighting vehicles, wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, and wheeled howitzers. It can transport all kinds of main battle equipment to combat areas with complex terrain.
Wasp-class amphibious assault ships For the U.S. Marine Corps, a large number of CH53K*** can take off and land on amphibious assault ships, which greatly improves the vertical strike and delivery capabilities of the troops. The CH53K Heavy Duty is famous, a new generation of heavy transport aircraft that entered service in the United States in 2019. The maximum transport capacity of the cabin is 13 tons, and the maximum transport capacity of the external is 159 tons.
In other words, the transportation capacity of CH53K*** is almost 3 times that of China's straight 8L***. Due to the strong transportation capacity, a series of large ** or vehicles of the US ** team can be transported by CH53K. At the moment, there are no heavy transport *** in our country that limits the maximum potential of Type 075 amphibious assault ships.
American-class amphibious assault ships In addition, our country also lacks short take-off and landing fighters, which is a big problem. Among the American F35 fighters, the F35B belongs to the version of short take-off and vertical landing, which is not only equipped with the American team, but also imported F35B fighters from a series of countries such as the United Kingdom and Japan. Although there is a certain gap between the comprehensive performance of the F35B fighter and the F35C dedicated to the United States, it is also a standard fifth-generation carrier-based aircraft after all. Aircraft carriers or amphibious assault ships, equipped with F35 series fighters, are still very threatening.
With the further expansion of China's maritime interests and the navy's step-by-step march to the open sea, it is far from enough to rely solely on the fighters on the navy's aircraft carriers. For amphibious assault ships, especially large amphibious assault ships of the 40,000-ton class, it is necessary to be able to carry short take-off and landing fighters.
Type 075 amphibious assault ship and Type 054B frigate are in the same frame China's J-35 fighter is in the process of step-by-step test flight, after the J-35 catapult type is finalized, it is necessary for China to further develop the version of short-distance take-off and vertical landing on the basis of the J-35 standard version, and further improve the comprehensive combat capability of the amphibious assault ship. Of course, for the Type 075 amphibious assault ship, if it needs to carry fixed-wing fighters, all aspects of the ship will definitely need to be upgraded and improved, such as hangar improvements, elevator adjustments, and so on.
The J-35 fighter is improving a series of stories about the development of various ships of our Navy step by step, and there are many more, and the author will talk to you slowly in future articles.