China’s shipbuilding industry is hard at work developing a new amphibious assault ship, building the first of the class at astonishing speed.
But the purpose of this large and advanced Type 076 warship remains a mystery. In fact, there is still a lot we don’t know about this unusual vessel.
Satellite images provided to Business Insider by the Center for Strategic and International Studies show the construction progress of the Type 76 amphibious assault ship, also known as the Yulan class, at Shanghai’s Changxingdao Shipyard. The image, taken on July 4, gives a detailed look at the ship.
Compared to its Type 075 and Yushen-class predecessors, there appear to be a number of notable differences, perhaps most notable being size: The Type 076 is much longer and larger than the Type 075, and when completed will be the world’s largest amphibious assault ship, easily surpassing similar vessels from the United States and Japan, according to a CSIS analysis of the new ship.
Satellite image shows the upper deck of a Type 76 vessel. CSIS/China Electric Power/CNES 2024
Advantages of larger warships include the possibility of carrying more aircraft, more space to accommodate a variety of personnel, and more interior space to store other assets.
But perhaps the most striking feature of the Type 076 is that it appears to be equipped with a catapult launch system for fixed-wing aircraft, a technology also used by China’s new Fujian aircraft carrier, which is equipped with an electromagnetic aircraft launch system similar to that used by America’s most advanced aircraft carriers, the Ford-class ships.
“This is something we’ve never seen before,” Matthew Funaiole, a senior fellow at the China Power Project at CSIS, told Business Insider. “No other country has an LHA with a catapult system,” he said, referring to the helicopter carrier. This capability places the warship somewhere between a traditional amphibious assault ship and an aircraft carrier.
An F/A-18F Super Hornet from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 takes off from the flight deck of the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78). Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Reuben Reed, U.S. Navy.
Funaiole added that the addition of a catapult launch system to the Type 076 shows China’s confidence in the technology, even though it has only just introduced it to the Fujian. But it is unclear what kinds of fighter jets China will launch from the Type 076, or whether those aircraft will be manned at all.
With the Fujian, China has made a technological leap from its previous carrier-based ski-jump aircraft launch systems to advanced electromagnetic catapults, completely ignoring steam-powered catapults in the process.
A J-15 fighter jet takes off from the aircraft carrier Shandong during a combat readiness patrol and military exercises around Taiwan. An Ni/Xinhua via Getty Images
As experts and China watchers have pointed out, China may be able to use the catapult system to launch unmanned aerial vehicles, but if it could launch manned aircraft despite operational and technical constraints, the Type 76 would become a sort of hybrid mini-aircraft carrier, fulfilling a unique role. The catapults, large flight deck, and secure runway would support this, but it’s no easy feat.
Brian Clark, a former U.S. Navy officer and defense expert at the Hudson Institute, said China likely wants the ability to launch long-endurance drones, and the new catapults are a “creative” way to achieve that for some of the drones.
The Chinese military operates a variety of attack and reconnaissance drones, and photos surfaced several years ago showing what appeared to be a drone on a catapult test course, according to a CSIS analysis. And at Changxing base, mock unmanned aerial vehicles have been spotted at a testing facility, though their purpose and intent are unclear.
According to Funaiole, the Type 76’s biggest role, at least initially, is likely to be to better integrate how China uses UAVs in naval operations.
But just as important as its capabilities is how quickly the Type 076 was built.
“I think it’s equally, if not more, important to highlight how incredible China’s shipbuilding capabilities are,” Funaiole said, noting that while the exact timing of construction is unclear, China has prioritized starting construction of the 076, likely in parallel with the completion of the new dry dock in which the ship is housed.
This is just one example of the capability and scale of China’s shipbuilding capabilities. Clark said the bigger lesson from building the Type 076 is that if China “gets a hot production line” and can “basically leverage civilian shipbuilding capacity to build military ships,” they “can build ships like the Type 076 pretty quickly.”
Satellite image shows the Type 76 being built around other ships. CSIS/China Power/CNES 2024
Although the Type 76 may seem like an unconventional ship, the US certainly could have completed such a vessel, Funaiole said.
But the US “relies pretty heavily on supercarriers, and rightly so,” Funaiole said, because supercarriers are inherently versatile and can carry a variety of aircraft and perform a variety of missions.
The US also has America- and Wasp-class amphibious assault ships for other types of missions. “The US Navy may not necessarily need these types of platforms,” he added.
There are questions about the Type 076’s role in a conflict scenario: For example, it could be involved in an invasion and blockade of Taiwan or support the use of drones and helicopters for surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, and other reconnaissance.
But Clark said the Type 076 likely fits into China’s goal of becoming a blue-water navy capable of projecting power far from its shores. Perhaps that flexibility is exactly what China wants: ships that can perform a variety of missions and serve as a vital addition to its growing naval forces.
