Among the new ships that will appear in the Chinese Navy this year, the 076 double attack under construction is undoubtedly the most noteworthy kind of ship.
At present, according to the news circulating on the Internet, the 076 two attacks are being built in a shipyard in sections, and it is expected that by the middle of this year, we will be able to see the full picture of the 076 two attacks in the dock.
If all goes well, it is optimistically estimated that the first 076 will be launched by the end of this year.
Some friends may ask, why do you pay so much attention to the 076 two attacks? Isn't this just an amphibious assault ship?
Do what the Americans didn't
In fact, the 076 two attacks and the actual route it represents have a very high upper limit and a lower limit.
If it is optimistically estimated, then the 076 two attacks will be a small UAV aircraft carrier. Even if it is conservatively estimated, the 076 two-attack is also a deep upgrade model of the 075 two-attack.
Because on the 076 double attack, it is the first time that a catapult and a dock are equipped on a ship at the same time, and no country has ever built such a ship as the 076 double attack before.
In the seventies and eighties of the last century, the United States conceived of similar ships.
At that time, the US military's idea was to build a medium-sized aircraft carrier with a dock compartment, so that while retaining the aircraft carrier's naval and air combat capabilities, it could also carry a relatively large amphibious combat force and achieve comprehensive combat capability.
However, since the Americans' starting point is based on a medium-sized aircraft carrier, the cost of this ship is based on a medium-sized aircraft carrier, and the cost can easily get out of control if it also has to install a dock and various equipment related to amphibious operations.
In the end, the Americans felt that the costs and benefits of such programs were not ideal, and eventually abandoned these research programs.
So will our 076 two attacks make the same mistake? At present, it probably won't.
Why? Because unlike the Americans, who developed on the basis of a medium-sized aircraft carrier, our 076 double attack is designed on the basis of an amphibious assault ship, to be precise, on the basis of the 075 double attack.
What is the difference between 076 and an aircraft carrier
There is a big difference in cost between a medium aircraft carrier and an amphibious assault ship. Here's an example. A regular aircraft carrier. It is generally required that the maximum sailing speed be more than 30 knots. And amphibious assault ships can generally be called excellent as long as they reach 25 knots.
This is the speed difference of 5 knots. It is a huge gap in the performance requirements of the power system.
According to the previously leaked 076 two-attack news, its power system should be two 21 megawatt gas turbines.
Considering that its tonnage must be more than 40,000 tons, many analysts believe that the displacement is likely to exceed 50,000 tons, and compared with such a displacement, the power of the total power of 42 megawatts is much worse than that of an aircraft carrier.
Let's take the ship "Liaoning" as a comparison, according to the USSR Navy 1143According to the public information of the Type 5 aircraft-carrying cruiser, the power system of the "Liaoning" was originally equipped with more than 80 megawatts.
It is said that in the process of rebuilding the "Liaoning" ship, it was also upgraded using domestic power technology. The power of the powertrain has been further improved.
A comparison will be revealed. The tonnage of the 076 two attacks approached the "Liaoning" ship. However, the power system power is only about half of that of the "Liaoning".
It is foreseeable that the maximum sailing speed of the 076 two attacks will be lower than that of the "Liaoning" ship. But what this brings is a lower construction cost for the 076 two attacks.
The above is just one example. The design standards for amphibious assault ships and aircraft carriers are very different.
So our 076 double attack is first an amphibious assault ship, and then an amphibious assault ship equipped with electromagnetic catapults and electromagnetic blocking devices.
Therefore, to control the construction cost of the 076 two attacks, it is still possible for China now.
Two guesses of 076
And what kind of combat capability can the 076 two attacks achieve? This depends on the deck design of the 076 two-attack, as well as the performance of the electromagnetic catapult.
There are now two speculations online:
One speculation is that the 076 two-attack retains a straight-through deck similar to the 075 two-attack, with the electromagnetic catapult arranged directly in front of the deck, and the electromagnetic blocking device arranged on the side of the end of the deck, as in the case of the deck layout of an aircraft carrier during World War II.
The efficiency of aviation operation in such a layout is obviously not high, and vertical take-off and landing aircraft such as *** are still the main ones in use, and electromagnetic catapult catapult carrier-based UAVs can only be used as a supplementary means.
And limited by this layout, the usable length of the electromagnetic catapult is not long, and it can only catapult a few tons of UAVs, and cannot catapult large carrier-based UAVs and fighters of more than a dozen tons or more than 20 tons.
With this design, the 076 two-attack is equivalent to the in-depth improved model of the 075 two-attack, adding the ability to use fixed-wing carrier-based UAVs that the 075 two-attack does not have.
Another speculation is that the 076 Twin Attack is likely to have an outward-floating flight deck, and may even have an angled flight deck, which actually looks like a medium-sized aircraft carrier.
This will enable the 076 two attacks to have a strong fixed-wing carrier-based aircraft operation capability. In this case, the fixed-wing carrier-based UAV will become the main carrier-based aircraft of the 076 two attacks, and the vertical take-off and landing models such as ** will be used as an auxiliary.
At this time, the 076 two attacks are not so much an amphibious assault ship, not as a drone carrier with amphibious landing combat capabilities.
Obviously, this design will lead to greater combat capabilities, but the construction cost will also be much higher than the previous guess.
There are more optimistic estimates that if the electromagnetic catapult equipped on the 076 two attacks can reach 80% of the performance of the 003 aircraft carrier, or even equivalent.
Then the 076 two attacks can also have the ability to take off and land carrier-based fighters, such as J-35 fighters.
The 076 two-attack designed in this way can have stronger naval and air combat capabilities than lightning aircraft carriers, and can become the core of our fleet for medium- and low-intensity maritime military operations.
Of course, I also think this statement is a little too optimistic, if you can take off and land the J-35 fighter, the 076 two attacks are really too comprehensive.
Generally speaking, such comprehensive equipment will be accompanied by problems such as high cost and low reliability.
Therefore, I think it is better for the 076 two attacks not to have such a comprehensive function, but also to ensure that its construction cost can be lower, and the reliability of use can be high enough.
I don't know what do you think, readers? Welcome to exchange and discuss in the comment area.