China Adds More Firepower Invasion Fleet
China is expected to commission a new large naval vessel, which is designed for amphibious warfare in island-landing operations across the contested Taiwan Strait and South China Sea.
Newsweek has reached out to the Chinese Defense Ministry for comment by email.
China has long claimed that Taiwan, a self-governed island, is part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to assert that claim. Meanwhile, its sovereignty claims in the South China Sea cover most of the waters, which overlap with those of neighboring nations.
According to the Pentagon, the Chinese military has built the world's largest navy by hull count, with over 370 ships and submarines in service, including the Type 075 amphibious assault ships, which have operated in waters near Taiwan and in the South China Sea.
A photo that circulated on social media last week shows the fourth Type 075 amphibious assault ship, with hull number 34, was pierside at an undisclosed location in China. Alex Luck, an Australia-based naval analyst, said the warship is "supposedly close to service entry."
According to the analyst, the currently unnamed ship has been assigned to China's Southern Theater Command, which is responsible for securing the South China Sea and supporting the Eastern Theater Command in military operations against Taiwan, the Pentagon assessed.
China operates three Type 075 amphibious assault ships—CNS Hainan, CNS Guangxi, and CNS Anhui—with hull numbers 31, 32, and 33, respectively. These vessels help safeguard the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty, according to the state-run Global Times.
In its report on Chinese military power, the Pentagon noted that the "highly capable" Type 075 amphibious assault ship provides China with an "all-aspect expeditionary capability," including the ability to carry landing craft, troops, armored vehicles and helicopters.
Regarding the fourth Type 075 amphibious assault ship, the Pentagon's report—released in December 2024—said the ship was launched in 2023 and was expected to be operational the following year. The Chinese military has yet to announce the ship's commissioning date.
Before commissioning another Type 075 warship, China launched its successor—the Type 076 amphibious assault ship—last December. This "new-generation" naval ship is designed to support flight operations of fixed-wing aircraft using a catapult and arresting system.
Australia-based naval analyst Alex Luck said: "Finally an image of the fourth Type 075 [amphibious assault ship], based with South Sea Fleet, with her hull number and supposedly close to service entry."
The Pentagon's Chinese military power report read: "The PLAN's newest amphibious ships, the [Type 075 amphibious assault ships] and [Type 071 amphibious transport dock ships], are modern platforms capable of regional and global expeditionary missions in support of wartime and non-war contingency operations singly or as part of capable and flexible task groups composed of multiple amphibious ships and surface combatants."
PLAN stands for People's Liberation Army Navy, the official name of the Chinese navy.
It remains to be seen whether China will continue building additional Type 075 amphibious assault ships or shift its shipbuilding capacity to the more advanced Type 076 warships.
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