Amphibious Warfare Ships - Introduction

The amphibious warships are the collective name for landing warfare-related ships . Their main missions are to transport landing troops, landing tools, combat vehicles, weapons and equipment, direct command landing operations and provide fire support. The amphibious warships have been developed for many years, including landing craft, landing ships, dock landing ships, armed transport ships, amphibious cargo ships, amphibious shipyards, amphibious assault ships, general amphibious assault ships, amphibious command ships and amphibious fire support ships. Etc. However, from the perspective of classification, some types of amphibious warships have been abandoned by countries, and some traditional classifications, with the application of new technologies and the emergence of new theories, are also vague and assimilated. The trend is given a new meaning, which is in sync with the development trend of surface warships.

The medium-sized tank landing ship is a landing warship that transports tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and other heavy weapons and landslides directly landing on the beach. Its structure is basically the same as that of large-scale landing ships. The displacement is usually 500 to 2000 tons, and the power plant uses diesel engines. The speed is about 15 knots, the endurance is more than 1000 nautical miles, it can approach the beach and sail in shallow water, suitable for short-range landing from shore to shore. Like the 072 series large tank landing ship, the 073 medium tank landing ship has undergone several improvements and has a large number of constructions.

The large tank landing ship is one of the important types of ships that carry out land-to-shore landing operations. It is a landing combat warship that transports heavy weapons such as tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and other squadrons directly landing on the beach. There is no need to transfer to the middle of loading. Large tank landing ships usually have a displacement of more than 20,000 tons. The power unit is usually a diesel engine with a speed of about 20 knots and a range of more than 3,000 nautical miles. It is equipped with naval gun weapons for self-defense, air defense and landing fire support. The Chinese Navy's 072 large tank landing ship has been built since its inception and has been continuously improved. It has now become a series. The 072A landing craft has been built to date to supplement the retired vacancies. This year, the newly constructed 072A large-scale landing ship of Wuchang Shipyard and Baima Shipyard has also been in service.

The armed transport ship, also known as the "landing squad transport ship", is a landing squadron transfer landing tool used to implement landing warships that landed on the ship. Armed transport ships can accommodate 20 to 30 medium and small landing crafts on the deck. Some have helicopter platforms at the rear of the ship. They use helicopters provided by amphibious assault ships to transfer part of the landing troops and implement vertical landing. Armed transport ships are single-loaded transport ships that have been phased out. The landing material transport ship, also known as the “amphibious cargo ship”, is used to carry the transfer and landing tools such as weapons, ammunition and supplies to implement the landing combat warships that landed on the ship. The ship is equipped with cargo hold, cargo lifts and various lifting equipment. It can carry 10 to 20 small landing crafts . Some also have helicopter platforms at the rear of the ship. The helicopters are used to transport the goods vertically to the shore. Amphibious cargo ships are single-loaded transport ships, and now the world is no longer continuing to develop this type of ship.

The amphibious dock transport ship, also known as the "dock-type landing transport ship", is a landing warship and its landing tool, and implements landing warships that landed on the ship. The full-load displacement of amphibious shipyards is usually in the range of several thousand tons to more than 10,000 tons, and the maximum speed is generally 20 to 25 knots. The shipboard docking cabin can carry a number of large landing craft or more than 10 medium and small landing craft, or dozens of amphibious armored vehicles, and carry the corresponding armed personnel. Some decks have helicopter landing platforms that can be used for vertical landings. The US "Whitbe Island" class amphibious shipyard is loaded with a displacement of 15,700 tons and a speed of 23 knots. It is equipped with four " LCAC " air-cushion landing craft. The traditional definition of dock landing ship, is an amphibious transport dock and the ability to directly Gordon Beach amphibious warfare ships, such as the Soviet Union 70 years developed a full load displacement of 13000 tons Ivan Rogov class landing ships with bow doors and a springboard. However, the traditional definition of dock landing ships seems to be blurring.

The amphibious assault ship, also known as the "helicopter landing transport ship", carries helicopters, transports the landing troops and their weapons and equipment to implement the vertical landing of the amphibious warships, with the characteristics of sudden, rapid and maneuverable landing operations. The amphibious assault ship features an island superstructure and a longitudinally-traveled flight deck for take-off and landing or vertical take-off and landing. The amphibious assault ship has a hangar that can accommodate helicopters and can be loaded with tanks and vehicles. Helicopters and vehicles are transported to the deck by hoists and cargo elevators.

The amphibious assault ship is also known as the "integrated landing transport ship". It is an amphibious warship that transports landing troops and their weapons and equipment and materials, and simultaneously implements plane and vertical three-dimensional landing operations, and has amphibious assault ships and other transport ships. The operational capabilities of the GM amphibious assault ship were created to avoid the implementation of the entire landing operations plan due to damage to a single-loaded transport ship. The "Tarava" class amphibious assault ship built in 1976 in the United States has a full displacement of 39,000 tons, a maximum speed of 24 knots, and an endurance of 10,000 nautical miles. It can carry 4 large landing craft , 6 medium-sized landing craft, 40 amphibious vehicles, and helicopter 30. The rack is equipped with 1,700 landing soldiers and their weapons and equipment, and has 300 beds.

The amphibious fire support ship is a landing combat ship dedicated to direct fire support to the landing forces. It is used to destroy enemy shore facilities, clear the landing beaches and certain depth obstacles, and support the landing ships that are landing assaults. Specially built, the ship is equipped with weapons such as artillery and rockets. In the Second World War, the United States used rocket landing craft to provide fire support, but it did not develop after the war, and the Soviet Union also developed rocket firearms to support fire weapons. In modern landing operations, the ship's onshore fire support weapons are mainly naval gun weapons and ground cruise missile weapons, but these two weapons have their limitations. For example, naval guns are suitable for hitting target targets, but the fire coverage is not dense enough. Cruise missile strikes are more accurate, but they are extremely costly and are suitable for attacking high-value targets.

In the early part of this century, the Chinese Navy has built a number of 072A , 073A and 074A landing ships in a targeted manner in response to the Taiwan independence forces in Taiwan . Although these landing ships have their war in the war of reunification in Taiwan. Important role, but it is not necessary to say that these landing ships generally have the disadvantages of smaller tonnage, less load, poor three-dimensional landing capability, low weapon configuration and insufficient amphibious command capability.

In response, the Chinese Navy launched the development of the Type 071 integrated landing ship in the early part of the 21st century. The Type 071 Integrated Landing Ship is a comprehensive landing transport equipment developed by the Chinese Navy. It has a displacement of nearly 20,000 tons and a strong three-dimensional landing capability. It can be deployed in the open sea. It is also an amphibious warship in combat command and amphibious operational command capability. The highest, for the first time on the landing ship, the operational command into the system configuration. In armament, arranged 76 mm and 6 tube 30 mm gun and electronic warfare systems, when the design, the 76 rearward mm gun mounted a AJK02 missile launchers, due to lack of funds reserved space, but even In this way, the Type 071 integrated landing ship is still the most powerful ship type in the Chinese navy amphibious ship.

In 2012, the Chinese navy completed the 075 comprehensive development project work amphibious assault ship, the 075 -type amphibious assault ship with 36000 tons displacement, can carry 28 helicopters, equipped with a dual 1130 close-in weapon systems and dual- HQ-10 missiles weapon System and new electronic warfare system. The 075 amphibious assault ship also made significant progress in the amphibious operational command capability, achieving the “centralized command, comprehensive control, and hierarchical management” of amphibious operations.

The amphibious assault ship has a strong ability to deliver troops, and is the protagonist in the amphibious warfare. Since the beginning of the new century, as the threats faced by various countries are changing, the amphibious assault ships have also developed a new direction, that is, multi-purpose, aircraft carrier.

Since the new century, there have been more and more non-traditional threats, and the naval non-war military activities have gradually increased, such as combating piracy, carrying out humanitarian relief, participating in peacekeeping, regional disaster relief, and the development of modern information-based military, amphibious The multi-purpose tendency of attacking ships is becoming more and more obvious. Moreover, due to the high cost of the aircraft carrier, the technical difficulty, and the great political influence, many countries have been discouraged, and they have regressed to the next level. They have actively developed amphibious assault ships to partially replace the aircraft carriers, so the aircraft carrier tendency is becoming more and more obvious.