Type 075
China's 40,000-ton amphibious "light carrier" — a helicopter assault ship that lands troops, vehicles and air assault forces over the horizon, built in numbers as the maritime spearhead of any future move on Taiwan. The PLAN's amphibious apex.
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China's amphibious apex — a 40,000-ton landing helicopter dock (LHD) that can put a battalion of marines, their vehicles and a fleet of helicopters ashore over the horizon. Often called a "light aircraft carrier," the Type 075 (NATO: Yushen-class) is the maritime spearhead China has built specifically for large-scale amphibious operations — above all, the contingency that drives so much PLA modernization: a forced reunification with Taiwan.
Overview
The Type 075 is a Chinese amphibious assault ship — a landing helicopter dock combining a full-length flight deck for helicopter operations with a floodable well dock for landing craft. Built by Hudong–Zhonghua Shipbuilding for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), it is the largest amphibious warfare vessel China has fielded and the third pillar, alongside the Type 003 Fujian carrier and large surface combatants, of a navy built for power projection rather than coastal defense. It carries roughly 30 helicopters, around 800 troops and dozens of armored vehicles, and lands them by three methods — vertical (helicopter), over-the-horizon (air-cushioned landing craft from the well dock), and horizontal (surface landing). Four are in service, and the class is the centerpiece of China's amphibious assault capability.
Development
China launched the lead Type 075 in 2019 and commissioned it (Hainan) in April 2021, following with Guangxi, Anhui and Hubei — four ships in service by the mid-2020s, per GlobalSecurity and Naval News. The program reflects the PLAN's rapid shift toward expeditionary and amphibious capability; the U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings framed the class as China's "amphibious apex." China has since moved to the next generation — the Type 076 Sichuan, a larger LHD fitted with an electromagnetic catapult to launch fixed-wing drones — signaling an evolution from a pure helicopter-assault ship toward a drone-capable assault carrier. The Type 075 itself remains the workhorse amphibious platform.
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