List of active People's Liberation Army Navy amphibious watercraft is a list of amphibious watercraft currently in service with the People's Liberation Army Navy. The following craft are primarily operated from large amphibious warfare ships such as the Type 071 of the PLAN. They are designed to transport troops and equipment from ship to shore. [1]
Naval vessels of PLAN are named per Naval Vessels Naming Regulation (中国海军舰艇命名条例) [2] that was first issued by the Central Military Commission (CMC) on November 3, 1978, and subsequently revised July 7, 1986. [2]
The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol to identify their ships by type and by individual ship within a type. The system is analogous to the pennant number system that the Royal Navy and other European and Commonwealth navies use.
A warship or combatant ship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a nation. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are typically faster and more maneuverable than merchant ships. Unlike a merchant ship, which carries cargo, a warship typically carries only weapons, ammunition and supplies for its crew. Warships usually belong to a navy, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations.
Landing helicopter assault (LHA) is the United States Navy's hull classification symbol for the general-purpose helicopter-carrying amphibious assault ships of the Tarawa and America classes.
The names of commissioned ships of the United States Navy all start with USS, for United States Ship. Non-commissioned, primarily civilian-crewed vessels of the U.S. Navy under the Military Sealift Command have names that begin with USNS, standing for United States Naval Ship. A letter-based hull classification symbol is used to designate a vessel's type. The names of ships are selected by the Secretary of the Navy. The names are those of states, cities, towns, important persons, important locations, famous battles, fish, and ideals. Usually, different types of ships have names originated from different types of sources.
A Landing Craft Utility (LCU) is a type of boat used by amphibious forces to transport equipment and troops to the shore. They are capable of transporting tracked or wheeled vehicles and troops from amphibious assault ships to beachheads or piers.
The People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force is the surface warfare branch of China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), consisting of all surface vessels in operational service with the PLAN. The PLAN Surface Force operates 661 ships organized into three fleets: the North Sea Fleet, the East Sea Fleet and the South Sea Fleet.
The Zubr class, Soviet designation Project 1232.2, is a class of Soviet-designed air-cushioned landing craft (LCAC). The name "Zubr" is Russian for the European bison. This class of military hovercraft is, as of 2023 the world's largest hovercraft, with a standard full load displacement of 555 tons. The hovercraft was designed to sealift amphibious assault units from equipped/non-equipped vessels to non-equipped shores, as well as to transport and plant naval mines.
The Type 071 is a class of Chinese amphibious transport dock ships in service with the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The Type 071 provides the PLAN with capabilities and flexibility not found in its previous landing ships.
The Type 072II landing ship are large landing ships built by Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard as a successor to the Type 072 landing ship. A total of four hulls have been delivered to the People's Liberation Army Navy since the early 1990s. The Type 072II is the PLA Navy's first amphibious warfare ship to have a flight deck for helicopter take-off/landing. There are three ships currently in People's Liberation Army service, all of which are deployed in East Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy. All active ships are built by China Shipbuilding Shipyard (中华造船厂) in Shanghai.
The Type 722 II class LCAC with NATO reporting name Jinsha II class LCAC is a medium size air-cushioned landing craft (hovercraft) operated by the People's Liberation Army Navy of China. It is frequently but erroneously referred by many as Dagu class, its predecessor, due to misspelling and lack of information in the 1970s, when these projects first appeared. There are also other names for this class, mostly resulting from different transliterations.
The Type 724 Landing Craft Air-Cushion (LCAC) is the first indigenous air cushion landing craft in operational use with People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), and it origin dates all the way back in the early 1960s, when 7th Academy was assigned to lead the developmental work on air cushioned vehicles for a 10-year plan lasting from 1963 to 1972. Two projects developed from this research work, and Type 724 LCAC is the direct descendant of these two research projects.
Ankang class ambulance craft is a class of little known naval auxiliary ship currently in service with the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The exact type still remains unknown, because the only official Chinese governmental information released on these crafts is that they are classified as fast ambulance craft, and has received NATO reporting name Ankang class, or 安康 in Chinese, meaning Well-Being. By Chinese classification, any naval vessel with displacement above a thousand ton is classified as ship / warship, and any naval vessel with displacement less than a thousand ton is classified as a boat / craft. Ankang class is the only boat / craft in the Chinese navy that is capable of hosting a helicopter, though it only has a landing pad, but not any hangar. A total of five units of this class have been confirmed in active service as of mid-2010s.
The Type 726 LCAC is a class of air-cushioned landing craft used by the People's Liberation Army Navy. Six Yuyi-class LCACs are believed to be in service with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), with the first one (3320) being seen at the end of 2007. It is thought that the vessels were delivered in two batches, with the first three LCACs reportedly powered by Ukrainian UGT 6000 engines, while the remaining three are believed to use the indigenous QC-70 gas turbines. Up to four Yuyi-class LCACs can be carried in the well deck of the Yuzhao-class landing platform dock (LPD) and Yushen-class landing helicopter dock (LHD).
Changbai Shan (989) is a Type 071 amphibious transport dock of the People's Liberation Army Navy.
Yimeng Shan (988) is a Type 071 amphibious transport dock of the People's Liberation Army Navy.
Hainan (31) is the lead ship of the Type 075 landing helicopter dock of the People's Liberation Army Navy. She was commissioned on 23 April 2021.
