The Chinese naval build up continues with the launch of Sichuan amphibious assault ship, the lead ship of the Type 076 class, displacing 40,000 tons and equipped with an electromagnetic catapult for fixed-wing aircraft operations.
On Dec. 27, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) officially launched its latest amphibious assault ship (AAS) from Shanghai, named ‘Sichuan’ after a province in southwestern China. So far this ship is the largest amphibious warship built for the PLAN, being larger than the Type 075 class landing helicopter dock (LHD), launched in 2019, which has a smaller flight deck and only displaces 36,000 tons.
The vessel features a twin island design similar to the British Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier, and an electromagnetic catapult (EMALS) and arrestor gear system which the official Xinhua news agency has described as being intended to launch fixed wing aircraft. Notably, Chinese military expert Song Zhongping compared the Sichuan to a “light aircraft carrier,” with the vessel possibly being equipped with the Shenyang J-15 currently flying from the Liaoning and Shandong aircraft carriers.
This could allow the Type 076 to operate in a role similar to the United States (U.S.) Wasp and America class ships landing a force of Marines from a landing craft air cushion (LCAC) hovercraft whilst providing dedicated manned air support. This ship marks the second PLAN vessel equipped with an EMALS, alongside the Type 003 Fujian aircraft carrier, and the third in the world with the US operating the EMALS-equipped USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier.
China’s first Type 076 amphibious assault ship, the Sichuan, was launched. It features a groundbreaking electromagnetic catapult and arresting technology. pic.twitter.com/AJCgs6yzI6
— Global Defense Insight (@Defense_Talks) December 27, 2024
If used in a light carrier role, the EMALS would give Sichuan the ability to launch and recover aircraft at faster rates and with greater efficiency than most western carriers including the US Nimitz class. Combined with its amphibious capability the Type 076 can conduct both air superiority missions and amphibious operations concurrently creating a significant problem for U.S. and allied mission planners in the South China Sea.
Yet, a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) casts doubt on this, stating that it may be intended that the Type 076 class be used as a drone carrier, employing the “GJ-11 stealth combat drone”, amongst others, to support its helicopter and landing craft borne forces.
The ship will undergo sea trials and further testing ahead of its official commissioning, the date of which is currently unknown.
🔺Besides the 6 Generation Fighter, China also launched its first Type 076 new-generation amphibious assault ship, the Sichuan,on Friday.
🔺Named after southwest China’s #Sichuan Province, the independently-developed new vessel was put into the water at a launch and naming… pic.twitter.com/J3jEXCuWEn
— Record GBA (@RecordGBA) December 27, 2024
Aviation and Armament
Currently nothing is known publicly on what aviation capabilities will be present on the Type 076 once it is commissioned and operational. The following is speculation based on what has been reported by Chinese state media when referring to the EMALS.
The GJ-11 stealth combat drone, seen flying earlier this year, may be a core component of Sichuan’s air wing as it is capable of operating from the Type 075 LHD and is likely to operate from the Type 076 as well. It has been pictured at a testing facility close to Shanghai, where Suichan was launched, with mockups being pictured at aircraft carrier testing grounds.
The drone is a stealthy unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) with two internal weapons bays, giving it a decent strike ability, although its exact capabilities remain unknown due to China’s state secrecy.
The WZ-7 reconnaissance drone Soaring Dragon is a high altitude long endurance (HALE) drone and is much unlike the GJ-11. The drone is non-stealthy and has no weapons stations with the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) believed to be used purely for reconnaissance purposes.
It may form a key link in the chain that is China’s Anti-Access Area Denial system (A2/AD), with the drone hunting US and allied carrier strike groups to provide the necessary location and targeting data back to China’s rocket forces on the mainland. Soaring Dragon is but one of many types of UAV that could be refitted for use on board the Type 076, however it is unknown if there are plans to do so, and unlike the GJ-11 it has not been seen in relation to the assault ship.
The mainstay of China’s carrier aviation, the Shenyang J-15 Flying Shark, also known by its NATO reporting name Flanker-X2, is a twin-engine, single seat carrier-based fourth generation multirole fighter developed to serve on the PLAN first generation of aircraft carriers. The J-15T was developed to allow it to take off from EMALS equipped aircraft carriers such as the Fuijan and now possibly Type 076 assault ships.
Alongside this, the PLAN developed the J-15D electronic warfare aircraft that operates in a similar way to the US’ F/A-18G Growler aircraft, fitted with electronic warfare systems intended to jam radars and protect a strike force from surface to air missiles of all types. The J-15 carries the PL-15 long range air-to-air missile reported to be able to out range the infamous American Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), forcing the US to develop the AIM-260 and AIM-174 missiles to counter them.
Sichuan and her sister ships will be primarily fitted with helicopters to aid in the amphibious role, landing troops ashore during any given conflict.
The Changhe Z-8 medium lift helicopter is a licence-built version of the French Aérospatiale SA 321 Super Frelon, originally bought in the 1970s becoming the first Chinese helicopter capable of landing on a PLAN surface warship. The helicopter performs multiple roles including anti-submarine warfare (ASW), search and rescue (SAR) as well as the troop transport role necessary for amphibious operations.
It is designed to utilise the A244S torpedo, which can be slung underneath the fuselage to aid in the destruction of enemy submarines, or it can be equipped with YJ-81 or YJ-83K missiles for the anti-shipping role. The Z-8 is currently being phased out by the PLAN in favour of the Z-18 and Z-20 helicopters due to the age of the airframe design and as a result only 15-20 are still serving with the PLAN.
Intrusion & aggression by China against the Philippines continues, this time in Sandy Cay 3 and 4 where Filipino civilian marine scientists conducting inspection of Chinese destruction of marine life when PLA Navy Changhe Z-8 helicopter used its rotor downwash against them. pic.twitter.com/khco9XuwzR
— Max Montero (@MonteroMax) March 26, 2024
The Changhe Z-18 is a development of the Z-8 and features a redesigned lower fuselage, larger cabin space for assigned forces and a rear ramp to ease the deployment of marines out of the aircraft. The Z-18 performs all the same roles as the Z-8, but it also features an airborne early warning (AEW) variant the Z-18J/Y.
This helicopter features a lowerable radar antenna in the place of the aircrafts ramp which it uses to provide early warning of incoming missile and aircraft based threats heading towards the amphibious vessel or carrier that the helicopter operates from. Once the Fujian aircraft carrier is ready for operations it will carry on board the Xi’an KJ-600 fixed wing AEW aircraft which will complement the Z-18J/Y in the role.
Changhe Z-18 transport helicopter. Read more at https://t.co/w34RoIC4GN (photos Huitong’s CMA Blog via https://t.co/EtCx0nArxw)#avgeek #aviation #PLANAF #Changhe #Z18 #Harbin #Z8 #Xingcheng pic.twitter.com/cw4Eh42pnC
— Scramble (@scramble_nl) June 10, 2020
Quite well known in the U.S., the Harbin Z-20 is a clone of the renowned Blackhawk helicopter used in the same roles as the above two helicopters. In 1982, China bought 24 U.S.-built Blackhawks but was unable to procure further examples due to the U.S. banning arms sales to China following the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. This led to China’s reverse engineering of the helicopter and its entry into service in 2019.
The Z-20 does feature some noticeable differences with its American cousin, this being the five-bladed propeller compared to the Blackhawk’s four, as well as slightly different fuselage geometry all over the aircraft. The Z-20 operates in multiple branches of the PLA and even has an attack helicopter variant the Z-21 which will complement the Z-10 used by the ground forces of the PLA. It is likely that the Z-20 will become the main helicopter force for China’s AAS due to its more modern design over the Z-18 and Z-8.
PLAN Z-20J Shipborne Helicopter Just Landed at the Zhuhai International Airport
The Long Anticipated Z-20 Variant Rotorcraft Joined the Airshow after its Maiden Formal Confirmation A Month ago
2024 Zhuhai Airshow is 🔥 WILD 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ptXVWtvsPf
— David Wang (@Nickatgreat1220) November 8, 2024
Onto the ship’s armament, Sichuan focuses solely on self-protection with the aviation element making up the majority of the warships offensive potential. It carries three 24 round-HQ-10 missile launchers similar to the US’ Rolling Airframe missile and operating in the same role as a short-range missile interceptor.
Alongside this, the ship has three 11 barrel H/PJ-11 30 mm close in weapon system (CIWS) for intercepting incoming threats. The Type 076 will mostly rely on its escorts to neutralise longer ranged threats including enemy aviation. For passive protection the ship carries four Type 726 series 24 round decoy launchers near the stern and amidships which fire both chaff as well as radar decoys.
U.S.-China Naval Arms Race
Sichuan highlights the growing lead that China has in the number of hulls currently in service to the PLAN over the U.S. Navy, with around 230 compared to the U.S.’ 219 according to the CSIS. Notably this figure doesn’t include the large fleet of small patrol craft operated by the Chinese Coast Guard, nor the logistics and support vessels in commission in both navies.
While the US still holds the edge in its major surface and subsurface combatants, i.e. carriers and nuclear submarines, as well as in the overall tonnage of both fleets, this is a negative sign for US naval dominance especially in the South China Sea, where Chinese naval power is concentrated. The US currently operates 11 aircraft carriers of the Nimitz and Gerald R Ford classes, alongside nine amphibious assault ships of the Wasp and America classes, with 11 planned to operate in total so the US is more than a match in terms of its carrier aviation. However, the shipbuilding capacity China possesses far outweighs the US under current plans highlighting that the US will be ever reliant on its allies to match the scale of the future PLAN.
In 2019 China built more ships in one year of peace time, both military and civilian, than the U.S. did during the four years it was involved in World War Two. According to the China Power Project, “Between 2014 and 2018, China launched more submarines, warships, amphibious vessels, and auxiliaries than the number of ships currently serving in the individual navies of Germany, India, Spain, and the United Kingdom.” This marks a significant turn as the PLAN moves away from being a coastal defence force, towards becoming a true blue water capable military force able to rival the dominance of the US Navy.
