Economic Scenarios

China is rapidly building a new class of amphibious landing craft. For Taiwan?

A new class of amphibious landing craft – many of which have already been spotted under construction – could signal that the People's Republic of China is preparing for a military operation against Taiwan.

These ships, spotted in the shipyards of Guangzhou in southern China, feature a striking design: unusually long road bridges extending from their bows.

This suggests that these vessels were built for a clear purpose: to rapidly deploy large quantities of military hardware, including tanks and trucks, to Taiwan's shores.

The landing craft are distinguished by their size and specific design features, including a road span of more than 120 meters. This allows the vehicles to be landed almost beyond the beach, on solid ground, or to approach coasts with particularly low seas, or to avoid coastal mines.

Navalnews' vision of the landing craft

Their ability to act as mobile docks, facilitating the unloading of large military vehicles from cargo ships, makes them particularly important to the PRC's amphibious invasion capabilities.

These vessels can also stabilize in rough seas thanks to “jack-up pillars, further ensuring their ability to operate in difficult weather conditions. This is a solution normally used for mobile platforms, but which can guarantee perfect stability for landing craft.

Barge with Jack Up pillar system

Guangzhou Shipyard International [GSI], known for its rapid production of advanced ships, has been responsible for some of China's most ambitious naval projects, including unmanned surface ships and even a light aircraft carrier.

While some have speculated that these vessels could have civilian use, and in theory they could, the size of the barges and the rate of their production suggest otherwise. These ships are simply too large and too built for applications other than military ones.

The design of these new barges brings to mind the famous Mulberry Harbors used during the Allied landings in Normandy in World War II. Like those floating docks, these barges are being built with great speed, but with a much more modern and specialized approach.

Mulberry Harbor

While smaller prototypes of these barges could have appeared as early as 2022, the large-scale production seen today is a more recent development, which is of concern.

Military analysts view the construction of these amphibious barges as a key indicator that China is preparing for a potential invasion.

View of the barges under construction

Dr. Emma Salisbury, Sea Power Research Fellow at the Council on Geostrategy, pointed out that any large-scale invasion of Taiwan would require a significant logistical effort to quickly move personnel and heavy equipment across the Taiwan Strait.

The barges' mobile dock capabilities make them ideal for such an operation, offering China a new way to deliver heavy equipment directly to the battlefield with minimal dependence on conventional ports.

As Dr. Salisbury notes, the presence of these barges suggests that China is preparing for a possible conflict and positioning itself with the ability to escalate tensions in the region.

Adding a further layer of complexity to this situation is the rapid expansion of China's fleet of dual-use vessels, particularly roll-on/roll-off [RORO] ferries, built to transport military vehicles.

These ferries are regularly tested in military exercises and their ability to carry tanks and other heavy equipment makes them a key element in any amphibious operation. However, this type of ship would require the construction of disembarkation infrastructures and piers, and this could also be a different function of these barges:

Another drawing of how this type of barge could be used

In any case, the construction activity suggests a more aggressive position by China towards Taiwan. It will be necessary for the Island to study some adequate countermeasures if it wants to try to maintain its objective independence, even if undeclared.


Telegram
Thanks to our Telegram channel you can stay updated on the publication of new Economic Scenarios articles.

⇒ Sign up now


Minds

The article China is rapidly building a new class of amphibious landing craft. For Taiwan? comes from Economic Scenarios .


This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-cina-sta-costruendo-con-grande-rapidita-una-nuova-classe-di-mezzi-da-sbarco-anfibi-per-taiwan/ on Sun, 12 Jan 2025 14:18:27 +0000.