The PLAN LCAC Type 726 Yuyi Class

asif iqbal

Lieutenant General
Zubr using gasoline in fact is very energy hungry. It can travel further than standard LCAC but not even than a LST.

Zubr is effective for countries like Greece, Indonesia and Philippines but for China? The only area Zubr comes in handy is Hainan island and Taiwan.

Regardless of what it uses it's stated range is 500km, which means 250km each way or there abouts

How many islands, atolls, reefs and Shoals are there within 250km of the Chinese mainland, I guess a lot

4 Zubrs will give the PLAN a lift capacity of a Type 071 LPD over a short range at very high speed, in a space of a couple of hours a Zubr Class can travel and deploy few hundred kilometres all it's men and equipment, a huge advantage from any angle
 

Engineer

Major
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. Having seen the video, I think I can see why the hovercraft is still not in production despite years of testing.

In my opinion, this LCAC needs considerable redesign. First and foremost is the need to add bow thrusters, as the current design has obvious maneuverability issue due to lack of control over sideslip. You can tell from the video as the craft drifts helplessly sideway when attempting to enter the dock. The second thing is the need to redesign the human/machine interface. The pilot should be able to tell the craft exactly what he wants to do, while the computers implement all the little details to realize that intention. As things are right now, the pilot needs to do a lot of adjustments himself, and I feel tired for him by just watching the video. Finally, it would be nice for them to trim down the size of the superstructures to give more space to the middle.
 
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delft

Brigadier
Hovercraft are mostly built in very small numbers so the plant to build them is kept simple. China will no have invested a lot in the plant to make those two Zubr's and that plant will be able to maintain a low rate of production but needing the supply of engines, propellers, skirts, instruments &c. either from the Ukraine or from other Chinese plants. We'll just have to wait for the decision and the result: four of them or more.
 

asif iqbal

Lieutenant General
The deal took ages because unlike previous military sales where Ukraine just sold on Soviet era equipment this time they had to manufacture these vessels

There was much doubt that Ukraine might not be able to full fill this order especially after the crane accident where a workers was killed, but Ukraine did not let this project slip and they did deliver the craft to China, they will also deliver the second one too

What happens after that? Well either Ukraine will make more or China will make the rest, I don't know the status of Chinas manufacturing of this craft but I think Ukraine has put so much effort into this plant they might end up building the rest for China, and it might even end up being cheaper for China too as building a facility for two units might not be that economically viable

however I think China might just end up buying two of these, induct them trial them see how they get along and of they are really very pleased they might add more, but that would be a few years away, in a few years will PLAN still have a need for Zubr? Hard to see it will, but certainly in the meantime it's great to see Ukraine selling two units to PLAN which will be a great asset

Fact remains, China also stuck to the deal and never withdrew so it must be something China really wants
 

A.Man

Major
Video: China Just Tested This Toy

[video]http://you.video.sina.com.cn/api/sinawebApi/outplayrefer.php/vid=101393950_3275706950_Ox+yTysxC2DK+l1lHz2stqlF+ 6xCpv2xhGm2vFejJQhQUAyYJMXNb9wH4SrfA8ZH8XoLHcwydP4 n1BQuYa9Y/s.swf[/video]
 

asif iqbal

Lieutenant General
Omg I asked the question a few weeks on how they would transport the Zubr from Ukraine and here are the pictures of it!!!

Wasnt long before we see it doing sea trials in Ukraine and now on its way to China

d596de6731fa83747446d53987ec6cea_zpsc717b8eb.jpg


8e1fd0d1e1685327fc3feee6a957e3db_zps6ca527dd.jpg


0528c8b6975be2ab54f6a19c2955089e_zps8364cb52.jpg
 

A.Man

Major
Video: Zubr on its way to China

[video]http://player.youku.com/player.php/sid/XNTQ5NDM4MzA0/v.swf[/video]
 
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