PLA Navy news, pics and videos
- Thread starter Jeff Head
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Great. I have been wondering when they will start batch producing 072 again.
They need to produce several dozens of this type in the next five years. They need to do it like they did with 056. As I said in another thread, the ratios between 075 (LHD), 071 (LPD) and 072 (LST) should be approximately 1:2:8 to reach totals of 8, 16, 64 respectively. They're roughly half way there currently.
Lethe
Captain
Four 072 series ships have been retired in the last couple of years, and a few more will likely follow over the next few years. So while it is good to see construction of these more modest ships resume, we cannot assume that we are looking at a growth trajectory for the type. As para81 says, they could well just be replacing older hulls on a 1:1 basis.
So yeah, unlike the Type 07 Ocean camo which is service-wide, the PLAN seems to be alternating their new Type 21 camo pattern between woodland and the solid dark navy blue, which is an odd development as far as uniform usage goes -
At first I thought these two patterns were distinguished between officers and enlisted, but these are all officers and some of them wear the navy blue while others wear the woodland camo for whatever reason that's not apparent, at least to me.
I'd sure love to have a read of PLAN's new guidance on uniform code and policy.
At first I thought these two patterns were distinguished between officers and enlisted, but these are all officers and some of them wear the navy blue while others wear the woodland camo for whatever reason that's not apparent, at least to me.
I'd sure love to have a read of PLAN's new guidance on uniform code and policy.
I don't have a source , but it it a kind of normal having 2 set of uniform . You have 1 set of uniform while working on the ship , and another for other duties while on the land.
In this case ,probably it just means some of the officers are stationed on a ship , and some came from a unit that is garrisoned on land therefor they don't have the same uniform.
When I served as a ground crew for fighter jets, we had a blue service cloth while working on the planes , but every other situation we used the normal olive green.
Not for the PLAN with their Type 07 though, which if you've noticed has always been the Ocean pattern on ship and on land.
They haven't been wearing a 'Woodland Type 7' whilst on land, until apparently now with the new Type 21. Yet you also have officers wearing the navy blue anyway like in the vid.
So for all intents and purposes this appears to be a new development as far as the Type 21 goes for the PLAN, to have two separate patterns for the same uniform, the usage of which seems a bit of a mystery as of now.
073A and 071 amphibious landing ships on exercise...
Moved to tech thread...
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Look at the pocket for the blue uniform , the flap is above the pocket , not side way like the Typ21 , blue also don't have arm pockets.
And we have no way to tell if the new blue uniform is made with the same fabric. It seems to me that the situation is just in mid transition and many sailors will still hang around with the old blue digital.
It is not unreasonable that in the same fleet , some ship will have the new ones , and some ship don't in the next few years.
Many other navies have this kind of working uniform for personals stationed on ship, since the need for a working uniform is bit different, it needs to be more flame resistant for example.
Also ,a side note PLA really don't have a different uniform for it's officers in combat/working uniform compared to the none-comms in any of it's branches, so that wouldn't make sense as reason to why the new blue uniform is introduced.
In my opinion , this new development is to be expected.
Oh yeah, I think you're right the navy blue does seem to be a different variant to the Type 21. It could be a working uniform instead of a combat uniform like the Type 21.
Though I think it still bears reiterating the PLAN, unlike other navies hasn't had separate 'working uniforms' with their Type 07 which has always been the singular Ocean pattern across all spectrums within the PLAN. No woodland, nor any other variant.
Also, unlike the USN's NWU vs FRV, for instance, we don't know if this navy blue uniform is flame-resistant either. Like the NWU, the Type 21 certainly isn't.
While it makes sense for other navies to have separate uniforms for different tasks/stations, this hasn't been the case for the PLAN with their Type 07, which they have since transitioned to the navy blue, which was introduced first, and now onto the Type 21 Woodland concurrently from the looks of it. So I'm not sure what you mean by "mid-transition" with some sailors still retaining their old Type 07 when none of them in the video wears it anymore.
We also have photos of ship-bound officers wearing the Type 21 Woodland, in conjunction with others wearing the navy blue in the same setting. So this rationale of separate uniforms for on ship and on land purposes again seems pretty thin IMO.
So I think the point still stands in terms of just under what circumstance would an officer wear the navy blue or the Type 21 Woodland, and thus far there still has been no solid indication as to the reasoning behind the different uniform choice beyond mere speculation at this point when, once again, there didn't used to be such a choice at all with the Type 07.