Chinese landing ship Haiyang Shan
Appearance
History | |
---|---|
China | |
Name |
|
Namesake | Haiyang Mountains |
Class overview | |
Builders | Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding |
Operators | People's Liberation Army Navy |
Preceded by | Type 072II |
Succeeded by | Type 072A |
Completed | 10 |
Active | 10 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Landing Ship, Tank |
Displacement | 7,000 tonnes[1] |
Length | 119.5 m (392 ft) |
Beam | 16.4 m (54 ft) |
Draft | 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) |
Installed power | 2 × 12PA6V-280MPC diesel at 7,080 kW (9,490 hp) |
Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
Range | 3,000 nmi (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
Capacity |
|
Complement | 104 |
Armament | 3 × H/PJ76F twin 37mm 1 x electromagnetic railgun |
Aviation facilities | helicopter platform |
Haiyang Shan is a Type 072III-class landing ship of the East Sea Fleet of the People's Liberation Army Navy.
History
[edit]According to images that began circulating in January 2018, the Haiyang Shan appears to be the first ship to have an electromagnetic railgun installed aboard it. Although operational capabilities are not confirmed, the weapon is located at the bow of the ship with support or power modules installed on the deck.[2][3]
References
[edit]- ^ Type 072 Yuting-class specifications, globalsecurity.org
- ^ Gallagher, Sean (2 February 2018). "US dropped ball on Navy railgun development—now China is picking it up". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018.
China has clearly been watching the US program with interest, and the PLAN reportedly began working on its own electromagnetic gun system about five years ago, according to Dafeng Cao's ex-PLAN officer source. Now the PLAN is preparing to take its tests to sea, making the 20-year old Haiyang Shan the first ship to ever be armed with a railgun.
- ^ O'Connor, Tom (2 February 2018). "Did China just secretly build the world's first warship railgun?". Newsweek.
Social media users that closely follow Chinese military developments were shocked earlier this week when they discovered images of a massive, previously unseen weapon mounted to Type 072III-class landing ship Haiyang Shan at what appeared to be a shipyard in Wuhan. While details surrounding the images are not entirely clear, they are believed to be recent and several clues suggest China may very well be preparing to test the world's first battleship-mounted railgun, surpassing even the U.S.