CHINA's extensive investments in strengthening the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) have not yet fully addressed the limitations of its amphibious warfare fleet, making it ill-prepared for major amphibious operations like an invasion of Taiwan, says Paris-based Naval News.
Consequently, the reliance on commercial shipping becomes a necessity.
As per the latest information from the US Office of Naval Intelligence, the PLA Navy's current assets include eight Type 071 landing platform docks (LPD), three Type 075 landing helicopter docks (LHD), 32 landing ship tanks (LST), fewer than 50 smaller landing ships, six Zubr-class hovercraft, and a minimum of 15 Yuyi-class hovercraft.
This arsenal falls short of the required capabilities for transporting PLA army and marine personnel across the Taiwan Strait in a full-scale Taiwan contingency scenario.
Therefore, the use of commercial vessels is essential to augment the shipping capacity.
In fact, the recent amphibious exercise in Fujian Province, opposite Taiwan, demonstrated the PLAN's dependence on roll-on/roll-off ferries.
On September 21, four RoRo ferries were observed in Xiamen via a vessel tracking website.
Defence Programme of the Centre for a New American Security adjunct senior fellow Tom Shugart initially noted that these four ferries, along with two additional commercial ferries, had deviated from their usual operations in the Yellow Sea.
Mr Shugart identified the four ferries as Bo Hai Bao Zhu, Bo Hai Heng Da, Bo Hai Fei Zhu, and Bo Hai Cui Zhu, all owned by the Bohai Ferry Group.
Collectively displacing 100,000 tonnes, these vessels were tracked to port facilities and beaches in the Xiamen region.
They are assigned to the Maritime Militia's Eight Transport Group for military operations and exercises.
SeaNews Turkey
Consequently, the reliance on commercial shipping becomes a necessity.
As per the latest information from the US Office of Naval Intelligence, the PLA Navy's current assets include eight Type 071 landing platform docks (LPD), three Type 075 landing helicopter docks (LHD), 32 landing ship tanks (LST), fewer than 50 smaller landing ships, six Zubr-class hovercraft, and a minimum of 15 Yuyi-class hovercraft.
This arsenal falls short of the required capabilities for transporting PLA army and marine personnel across the Taiwan Strait in a full-scale Taiwan contingency scenario.
Therefore, the use of commercial vessels is essential to augment the shipping capacity.
In fact, the recent amphibious exercise in Fujian Province, opposite Taiwan, demonstrated the PLAN's dependence on roll-on/roll-off ferries.
On September 21, four RoRo ferries were observed in Xiamen via a vessel tracking website.
Defence Programme of the Centre for a New American Security adjunct senior fellow Tom Shugart initially noted that these four ferries, along with two additional commercial ferries, had deviated from their usual operations in the Yellow Sea.
Mr Shugart identified the four ferries as Bo Hai Bao Zhu, Bo Hai Heng Da, Bo Hai Fei Zhu, and Bo Hai Cui Zhu, all owned by the Bohai Ferry Group.
Collectively displacing 100,000 tonnes, these vessels were tracked to port facilities and beaches in the Xiamen region.
They are assigned to the Maritime Militia's Eight Transport Group for military operations and exercises.
SeaNews Turkey
