China starts sea trials of amphibious assault ship

BANGKOK — China began sea trials of its most advanced amphibious assault ship on Friday, only a week after commissioning its latest aircraft carrier as part of the rapid modernization of its navy, which is already the world’s largest.

The Sichuan Type 076 vessel, which set sail from Shanghai’s Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard, combines some of the attributes of an aircraft carrier and earlier amphibious assault ships, with the ability to launch both aircraft and landing craft loaded with troops.

It is about half the size of the Fujian, the latest aircraft carrier commissioned by China on Nov. 7, with a displacement of some 40,000 tons. Both ships were indigenously designed and built.

Exact technical specifications have not been released, but amphibious assault ships are typically faster than carriers, which gives them more operational flexibility, but they are more lightly protected against attack, and cannot carry as many or as broad a range of aircraft.

China’s navy already has more ships than the U.S. Navy, but it lags behind in capabilities with fewer aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships and other key vessels. It has embarked on a massive building program, however, as part of leader Xi Jinping’s broad military modernization plan.

Xi’s stated aim is to have a fully modernized force by 2035 and one that is “world class” by mid-century, which is widely interpreted as one whose capabilities rival those of the United States.

One of Xi’s goals is to take the democratically self-governed island of Taiwan, and he has not ruled out the use of force.

Amphibious assault ships would likely be critical for an invasion of Taiwan, though the island is also bristling with missile defense systems that could make any attempt to use them costly.

The Sichuan compares roughly to the U.S. Navy’s America-class and Wasp-class amphibious assault ships. However, it is equipped with the same modern electromagnetic catapult system that has been successfully tested on the Fujian carrier, while the American ships lack such launch systems and instead can only operate helicopters and short or vertical take-off and landing planes.

Official Chinese media reported that the electromagnetic system would allow the Sichuan to launch fixed-wing aircraft in addition to helicopters and STOVL and VTOL planes, but it was not yet clear whether it would be limited to drones or whether it could launch crewed fixed-wing aircraft like fighter jets.

That will likely become known during the later stages of the sea trials as the Sichuan’s capabilities are tested.

China has not said how long the Sichuan sea trials are to last.

曼谷——中国于周五开始对其最先进的两栖攻击舰进行海上试验，而就在一周前，中国刚刚为其最新型航空母舰举行了服役仪式。这是中国海军快速现代化进程的一部分，而中国海军已经是世界上最大的海军。

四川076型舰艇从上海沪东中华造船厂下水，它结合了航空母舰和早期两栖攻击舰的一些特性，能够投放飞机和载有部队的登陆艇。

它的大小约为中国最新服役航母“福建”号的一半，后者于11月7日下水，排水量约为4万吨。这两艘舰艇均为国产。

确切的技术规格尚未公布，但两栖攻击舰通常比航空母舰速度更快，这使它们具有更大的作战灵活性，但它们的防护能力较弱，无法搭载数量或种类相同的飞机。

中国海军舰艇数量已超过美国海军，但在航母、两栖攻击舰和其他关键舰艇数量方面仍落后于美国，作战能力欠佳。不过，作为习近平主席宏大军事现代化计划的一部分，中国已启动大规模的舰艇建造工程。

习近平明确表示，他的目标是到 2035 年建成一支全面现代化的军队，到本世纪中叶建成一支“世界一流”的军队，这被广泛解读为一支能力足以与美国匹敌的军队。

习近平的目标之一是夺取实行民主自治的台湾岛，而且他没有排除使用武力的可能性。

两栖攻击舰对于入侵台湾来说可能至关重要，但台湾也遍布导弹防御系统，任何使用两栖攻击舰的尝试都将付出高昂代价。

四川号大致相当于美国海军的“美利坚”级和“黄蜂”级两栖攻击舰。然而，它配备了与“福建”号航母上成功测试过的相同的现代化电磁弹射系统，而美国舰艇则没有这种弹射系统，只能操作直升机和短距起降或垂直起降飞机。

中国官方媒体报道称，该电磁系统将使四川飞机除了直升机、短距起降飞机和垂直起降飞机外，还能发射固定翼飞机，但目前尚不清楚该系统是否仅限于无人机，或者是否可以发射战斗机等有人驾驶的固定翼飞机。

在海上试验的后期阶段，随着四川号性能的测试，这一点很可能会揭晓。

中国尚未透露四川海试将持续多久。