China is building barge ships capable of deploying long bridges for direct access to coastal roads and bypass obstacles for its amphibious operations.
Images of a new support ship for landing operations were first seen on Chinese social media. The ship has a retractable bridge and deployable support legs for stability at shore.
While the ship is sure to be used in landing operations, it can not be described as a landing ship as it seemingly has no provisions for transport. This part is still left to the existing platforms built for said duty.
It can be taken as an oversized assault bridge in the form of a ship used by land forces worldwide. However, this ship is meant to allow the crossing through land obstacles instead of rivers or other shallow water bodies.
Due to its intended role, the equipment to be used is not yet revealed, but the ship will likely have navigation radars, electro-optics, and small to medium-calibre weaponry.
Naval News Analyst and Illustrator H I Sutton predicts that the ship will use a smaller retractable platform at the aft section to transfer vehicles from various transport platforms, military or civilian types.
Force projection platforms in the Navy and new technologies for its land and air forces have been the focus of China for a hypothetical invasion of Taiwan. China openly expresses its intentions to annex Taiwan under the names of “unification” or “One China”. This new landing support platform can be regarded as an attempt to obtain amphibious operation capabilities on a less rocky road (both metaphorically and literally).
