Thursday, May 27, 2010
071 LPD to the Gulf of Aden.
For the past six months a persistent rumor has been "floating" around suggesting that the PLAN is planning to send their largest surface combatant, the 071 Yuzhao LPD, to the Gulf of Aden to aid the on-going international anti-piracy operations.
This recent PLA Daily photograph (here) of a PLAN Z-8 helicopter pilot leaving his 1-year old son to "train for a long range" mission adds credence to the rumor. The only PLAN combat vessel capable of deploying two medium-sized helicopters is the Type 071 LPD.
Having a 20,000t Command and Control mother ship will not only enhance on-station time for the Chinese task force, its two Z-8's also have a significant range advantage over the lighter Z-9 and Ka-27 currently serving onboard the Chinese task force. The Z-9 is designed to drop a 4-member SpOps team to a distressed ship. On the other hand, the Z-8 is capable of delivering 20+ fully armed troops.
6-29-2010's CCTV report confirms that the 071 LPD (998 Kunlun Shan) will participate in the PLAN's 6th task force deployment to the Gulf of Aden.
You can catch the CCTV report in youtube (here) (thanks HHG for the upload)
http://news.mod.gov.cn/headlines/2010-06/30/content_4169885.htm
本报湛江6月29日电 余黄伟、记者尹航报道：即将出征亚丁湾的中国海军第六批护航编队的1000余名官兵，今天下午在湛江某军港隆重举行誓师动员大会。海军副司令员徐洪猛出席大会，南海舰队政委黄嘉祥作动员讲话。
中国海军第六批护航编队由南海舰队“昆仑山”号船坞登陆舰、“兰州”号导弹驱逐舰、两型坞载艇和正在亚丁湾执行护航任务的“微山湖”号综合补给舰组成。排水量为18000吨的“昆仑山”舰，是我国目前吨位最大的水面作战舰艇。它所携带的具有机动快速特点的两型坞载艇，将作为海军最新装备在护航行动中首次亮相。这也是我国海军大型船坞登陆舰第一次携带两栖兵力执行远洋护航任务。
China sends sixth naval escort flotilla to Gulf of Aden
English.news.cn 2010-06-30 14:44:10
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-06/30/c_13377103.htm
ZHANJIANG, Guangdong, July 30 (Xinhua) -- China's sixth naval escort flotilla departed Wednesday for the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters.
The flotilla with more than 1,000 personnel, including Navy special forces troops, is to relieve the fifth flotilla, which has been cruising the waters off the Somalia coast for more than three months.
The amphibious landing ship Kunlunshan, destroyer Lanzhou, and supply ship Weishanhu of the fifth fleet, will escort vessels sailing through the region.
It is the first deployment of the amphibious landing ship Kunlunshan, with a displacement of 18,500 tonnes, on an escort mission.
The previous five Chinese fleets to the Gulf of Aden have escorted 2,248 Chinese and foreign ships in 213 batches in this region, which has been plagued by pirate attacks, since December 2008.
Editor: Wang Guanqun
6 comments:
Are those QBZ-95B carbines they have there?
Yup for the crew. the on board PLA 1st marine bdg contingent should have the standard QBZ-95.
Why don't PLAN just build a helicopter carrier instead
If I'm not mistaken, the next evolution of the type 071 will include some features of a heli carrier.
Does this not also provide the capacity for them to send substantial raiding parties ashore, in a little old school gunboat diplomacy? They may feel that a kinetic interaction with a power unconcerned by public relations might discourage pirate raids on Chinese flagged ships.
Robert Cosgrave,
At this point, it is likely to be a test deployment for the new asset rather than actual force projection.
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