One of the Type 071 landing ships of the PLAN was spotted with a 155 mm naval gun at a shipyard, hinting at works to boost coastal bombardment capabilities.
Type 071 LPD fitted with a 155 mm naval gun, which was previously seen in the Chinese social media, was spotted at an unknown shipyard. The standard main gun of the Type 071 class is an AK-176 76 mm naval gun at the bow for a comparison.
The integration of a prototype naval gun on a landing ship hints at two possibilities: the replacement of the AK-176 or the ship being reserved as a testbed.
Compared to a 76 mm naval gun, a 155 mm artillery gun offers significantly longer range and higher destructivity per gun. Additionally, guided rounds with extended range and higher accuracy add further to the advantages for coastal bombardment scenarios. However, due to the large calibre, there is a significant decrease in fire rate and the sacrifice of anti-air capabilities normally present in 76 mm naval guns using proximity fuse ammunition.
Regarding the testbed possibility, China is known to have used at least one landing ship to test new weaponry. One well-known example is the conversion of a Type 072-class landing ship with a large open space to test a large railgun prototype. This approach can be mainly attributed to the fact that landing ships are less active during peacetime, while surface combatants are tasked with patrols regularly.
A similar effort to this was Germany’s cancelled MONARC 155 mm artillery, a modification of the PzH2000 SPG turret for mounting on warships. While the gun could operate, the highly corrosive maritime environment that the SPG turret was not designed for sealed the project’s fate.
Author: Kaan Azman
Editor: Özgür Ekşi
