At this year's Navy Day, the Chinese Navy commissioned three world-class advanced ships at once, among which the Hainan ship has a displacement of up to 40000 tons. It can not only fight on the sea surface, but also be a powerful tool for beach landing. Even more surprising is that all indicators of the Hainan ship have reached international standards.

The construction cost of the Hainan aircraft carrier is only 10% of that of the same class aircraft carriers in the United States, so it is also known as a domestically produced small aircraft carrier. However, the launch of the Hainan aircraft carrier has silenced the United States, which has always advocated the China threat theory. What's going on? What is the deterrent power of China's Hainan ship? What will its service bring to our country?

The official service of the Hainan ship marks that the Chinese Navy has more than seven large-scale combat vessels, with a total tonnage of over 100000 tons. Moreover, in terms of both quantity and quality, Chinese warships have long held the top spot in the world. Without a doubt, the Chinese navy is no longer comparable to its original form and has evolved into a truly perfect navy. Prior to this, although the Chinese navy was equipped with many advanced weapons and equipment, beach landing has always been a weakness of the Chinese navy.

Before the Hainan ship entered service, only the Kunlun was capable of amphibious operations, but its displacement was only 20000 tons, making it unable to complete large-scale rapid transportation. Since the addition of the Hainan ship, it can be said that the serfs have turned over and sung. The Hainan ship is 15 stories tall and has caught up with the height of the Shandong and Liaoning ships. Its carrier capacity is also very excellent, capable of taking off and landing more than 30 helicopters, and can also deploy more than 30 amphibious vehicles at the same time. There are six helicopter takeoff and landing points on the ship, which is comparable to a small aircraft carrier. Therefore, it is called a domestically produced small aircraft carrier.

Some people may ask, why are navy ships taller than Liaoning ships? This is because as an amphibious combat vessel, the carrying tasks it undertakes are very complex. As carrier based aircraft are the highest equipment in aircraft carriers, their internal hangars only need to meet the height requirements of carrier based aircraft. But amphibious assault ships are different. They not only need to carry transport helicopters, armed helicopters, but also amphibious tanks, transport tanks, and heavy equipment such as Mustang hovercrafts. The Mustang hovercraft is used to transport tanks, tanks, and other equipment from shallow coastal waters to shore.

Because hovercrafts are used to transport heavy equipment, they are larger than tanks, which places higher demands on the carrying capacity of amphibious assault ships. According to official announcements, in addition to its large carrying capacity, the Hainan ship's helicopter landing platform is also a major highlight. This lift can not only meet the lifting tasks of two helicopters at the same time, but also fully fill all six helicopter landing points of the Hainan ship in three lifts.

Moreover, the maximum number of ships carried by Hainan is not only 6, even 10 is a piece of cake. The Z-8C carried by the Hainan ship also has a lot of advantages. It not only has the most advanced rotor and transmission system on its body, but also has the highest quality cockpit appearance. The most impressive feature is that the Z-8C is equipped with three turboshaft 6C single rotor engines.

With the added value of this engine, the Z-8C has a sea level takeoff power of 1300 kilowatts under standard conditions and excellent high-temperature performance. However, the Z-8C also has its shortcomings, such as its heavy weight. In many aspects, such as the power compartment and exhaust pipe design, it still follows the previous generation's technical solutions, but this does not affect its operational capabilities. The Z-8C belongs to the platoon level transport helicopter and can transport weapons and equipment for one platoon at a time.

The Hainan ship is equipped with 20 Z-8C helicopters, which means these helicopters can complete a transportation mission of 600 people in one go.

In addition to its transportation capability, the Z-8C is also equipped with top-notch firepower. It not only carries 122mm howitzers, but also various types of aircraft guns, machine guns, and more, providing comprehensive firepower support for ground landing troops. Surprisingly, the Z-8C can also serve as a rescue helicopter, capable of carrying out rescue missions in case of casualties.

These functions fully highlight the important role of the Hainan ship. As a representative work of the 057 amphibious assault ship, the Hainan ship is 100% made in China and is completely independently produced by our country, without any foreign technology or parts. Having such a ship, once a war breaks out, it can leverage its advantage in amphibious operations to accurately deploy landing forces behind the enemy's coastline, achieving the goal of attacking key targets in the enemy's rear. Through these divine weapons, it can change the course of the war.

On the other hand, the Hainan ship utilizes various helicopters and drones on the deck to provide a large amount of firepower support for shallow water landing. Therefore, the service of the Hainan ship has greatly improved the amphibious combat capability of the Chinese Navy, and can even become a new generation of light aircraft carriers.

The current naval operations are mainly divided into maritime operations and amphibious landing operations. Amphibious landing operation is to first obtain dominance in the sea area through aircraft carrier operations, and then use amphibious vessels for beach landing. Although this combat method has significant effects, its drawbacks are also very obvious, such as slow landing speed leading to excessive casualties. In addition to conducting naval landings in this way, another method is to choose helicopter airdrops and use helicopters to deploy soldiers deep behind enemy lines for surprise attacks.

Although this method has increased the landing speed, the number of troops is too small. Amphibious attack ships complement each other's strengths and weaknesses by using helicopter empty units or conducting shallow landings with ground armor, which perfectly solves the previous problem. Amphibious attack ships, with their powerful supply and transportation capabilities, combat flexibility, and significantly lower cost than aircraft carriers, have become a military equipment strategy that countries around the world are competing to develop.

This time, the Hainan ship has shone brightly internationally, once again proving the enhancement of China's maritime military strength and significantly improving its national defense capabilities. And the United States, which has been targeting our country before, has chosen to remain silent this time. Does this also confirm that the United States has recognized our country's strength? Compared to the strongest amphibious assault ship in the United States, who will have the last laugh with China's Hainan ship?

Although both are amphibious assault ships, they have significant differences or development directions. Firstly, from the perspective of design positioning, the United States amphibious assault ships place more emphasis on aviation capabilities, including air assault, air power struggle, and ground strike capabilities, with overall functions leaning towards aircraft carriers. On the other hand, China focuses on the delivery and transportation capabilities of amphibious assault ships, as the Marine Corps is only one of the branches of the Chinese Navy, and tasks such as air power struggle and assault strikes are handled by other naval units.

Although our country's amphibious assault ships may seem very traditional, we have not taken the wrong path. After all, they are not real aircraft carriers. Amphibious assault ships that only focus on improving their aviation capabilities and choose to give up their delivery capabilities have neither the proud delivery capabilities nor the air capabilities of aircraft carriers, which are very disadvantageous. Just like the abandoned dock compartments of amphibious assault ships in the United States, which were later installed again, you should know that a door to door connection is not as precise as a door to door connection.

This is the first time that China has entered the field of amphibious assault ships. Although it started late, its starting point is high, and its tonnage directly reaches the highest weight of current amphibious assault ships. Its combat capability is also comparable to that of American amphibious ships.

Moreover, China's Hainan ship is equipped with the world's fastest and most advanced Type 05 amphibious assault armored vehicle family, with a maximum operating speed of 25 kilometers per hour, twice that of American assault vehicles. In this way, not only does it increase the personnel transportation rate, but it also reduces the chance of being hit and improves survival ability.

Overall, the Hainan ship and the US amphibious assault ships have their own strengths and weaknesses. The Hainan ship does not have the excellent air raid capability of American ships, but it has a stronger air raid capability than American ships. The Hainan ship can be said to be the best choice for the Chinese navy at present. I believe that in the future, our country will manufacture even better amphibious assault ships, become a military power, and our technological capabilities and defense strength will also reach the world's top.

Source: Guoke Huanyu