Hi,
ive been wondering a few things in regards to the expected size of an upcoming PLAN LHD. As i understand from searching the infinite wisdom of the internet but otherwise completly lackning knowledge:
China dont have either a heavy transport helicopter or an amphib tracked apc like the one us use, so we are the starting with the big one instead something in the 8-16000 tons range with could still be used in antipiracy and skirmish amphib asw eller as provide training in multiple helicopter handling. In other words arent 40000 tons a bit overkill? It seems a bit out of sync with the otherwise meticulously planed fleet expansion...
071 LPD is the PLAN's first LPD and it displaces about as much as a San Antonio if not possibly more.
PLAN have shown they are quite able to think big on some ship types in terms of capability, displacement, or both, so a 40k ton LHD is quite reasonable.
And like Shen said, PLAN has quite a variety and number of AAVs and soon potentially a large number of medium and heavy helicopters as well. And also even if helicopter production took a while to ramp up, it wouldn't be the first time that PLAN has built a ship and then introduced some of its complement later (Liaoning for one)
