In the last few hours, new images of the Type 076 amphibious assault ship of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy have gone viral through Open Information Sources (OSINT) and show the significant degree of progress in the construction of the first unit of this type at the Changxing Shipyard. Thanks to the information, it was possible to observe the installation of the two “islands” that will allow work on the infrastructure of the decks and other sections.
The Type 076 represents a new class of new LHD amphibious assault ship intended to increase the maritime and air-naval projection capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army Navy. Although it is based on the design of the Type 075, of which the force has four units, its dimensions and characteristics make it a class of its own with specific capabilities.
It should be noted that although there is no exact date for when the construction of this first unit began, the first information leaks place it after 2020, when a year earlier social media published a construction proposal under the title of “Project XX6“. Only during the current year did the first photographs of its development emerge, which confirmed the status and degree of progress of the construction of this new ship.
To date, some of the features observed in previous images highlight the installation of what appears to be a future electromagnetic catapult on its flight deck, similar to the one that equips the new Fujian aircraft carrier. More precisely, the area that would house the future system for launching fixed-wing aircraft can be seen on the port side of the flight deck.
The latter suggests that the Chinese Navy may be planning to equip the Type 076 with a mixed-type Carrier Air Group, i.e., made up of rotary-wing aircraft and UAVs of different classes and functionalities. In the absence of further data, we can only presume the capabilities of the future Type 076, which has an estimated displacement of 40 thousand tons, with a length of between 250 and 260 meters, and a beam of 50 meters.
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