Taipei Noticed The Dragon Improving Its Swimming Skills Back In 2012

Naval Interests:

American Admiralty Books Safety & Privacy Policies   EU VISITORS WARNING POSSIBLE COOKIES AHEAD

HOW FAR WILL THE DRAGON SWIM?

It's Certainly Improving Its Strokes for the Crossing to Taiwan 

Source: Taipei Times, article by J.Michael Cole, Staff Reporter

Editor's note 1/3/2018  It appears that there was some delay in the development of the ships described in this article but the first in class are presently scheduled to enter service in late 2019 or early 2020 which is certainly not good news for Tiwan . We found an informative update in an article published by "next BIG FUTURE" (https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/04/china-building-40000-ton-helicopter-aircraft-carrier-and-increasing-number-of-marines.html ) 
Illustration by PLA published at "next BIG FUTURE" 

There is a new People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ship being developed in China that has defense circles in Taiwan concerned that the mainland is building a game changer in the conflict over the sovereignty of Taiwan. Naval analysts in Taiwan believe that as early as 2014 the PLAN could have operational a major landing helicopter dock (LHD) ship that would cause a "strategic shift" in the Taiwan Strait. The design has already been officially revealed by the China Shipbuilding Industry Company, (CSIC) the nation's largest ship building organization at the Defense and Security 2012 exhibition in Bangkok last March. Naval analysts both on Taiwan and in the United States States believe the ship to be the "Type 081 LHD, a design that Jane's defense weekly confirmed in 2007 noting that the preliminary design was reportedly completed in 2006 with detailed engineering design starting soon afterward. The LHD will be capable of carrying eight helicopters on deck with hanger space for four more, or for hoover craft and can accommodate up to 1,068 marines. The ship will also be equipped with phased array radar, four short range air defense launchers, and some type of anti submarine warfare capability. The operational range of the vessel is estimated by analysts to be 7,000 nautical miles with an endurance of up 30 days at sea. 

 The ship design most closely resembles the French Mistral -class amphibious assault ship with some features similar to the Japanese Self defense Force Hyuga -class helicopter carrier in service since 2009. Analysts expect a launch date of 2014. Such ships are frequently employed by Western powers for humanitarian relief missions but their primary purpose is the delivery of troops from the sea. While the move might be seen as simply a counter to the nearby Japanese capability, or a move to increase China's capability to participate in distant humanitarian missions and thus increase the prestige of the Middle Kingdom, there is no doubt that this will be a first class amphibious assault ship. Analysts believe the PLAN seeks to acquire at least three of these ships. No if, buts, or maybes, possession of this ship means the dragon will be able to swim to Taiwan's shores and launch its pups ashore much more handily than ever before. How far will the dragon swim? Clearly to Taiwan and beyond, unless the dominant Chinese Army decides otherwise. Some thing happened of a similar nature in the long distant past of China. China once backed away from maritime dominance at a time when it had no rivals, and set the stage for Western Expansion in the 1400s. Chinese historians today view that as a big mistake that they hope China does not repeat. We think the safer bet is to count on a dragon who daily becomes a stronger swimmer.

.