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After the sixth-generation fighter, China unveils the world’s largest landing craft. All about it

Posted on by Gerres
After the sixth-generation fighter, China unveils the world’s largest landing craft. All about it


Beijing:

Demonstrating its growing military power, China has unveiled the world’s largest amphibious assault ship. The launch closely followed reports of the communist nation’s test flights of a new sixth-generation heavy stealth fighter, reportedly called the J-36, which features a tailless design intended to improve stealth and maneuverability.

Beijing is developing its military capabilities at wartime levels, and the country’s defense spending will increase by 7.2% to 1.67 trillion yuan in 2024. China has also become the world’s largest shipbuilder, with a production capacity 230 times greater than that of the United States .

About the Chinese amphibious assault ship

China’s Type 076 amphibious assault ship entered the water on Friday at a shipyard in Shanghai, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) said in a statement.

This independent new ship, named after China’s southwestern province, was hailed by PLAN as a “key asset” for advancing the Navy’s transformation and enhancing its long-range operational capabilities in the high seas.

According to a report by state agency Xinhua News, the displacement of the Sichuan ship when fully loaded is over 40,000 tons. It also reportedly has a two-island superstructure and a full-size crew cabin. Moreover, the ship uses electromagnetic catapult and limiter technology, enabling the transportation of fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and amphibious equipment.

According to a CNN report, only one other warship in service worldwide, the US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, uses an electromagnetic catapult system.

About Chinese J-36 fighters

On Thursday, unverified photos of China’s so-called sixth-generation fighter appeared on social media. The jet is reportedly named J-36.

According to a report by the South China Morning Post, the plane was seen flying over Chengdu in southwestern Sichuan province in broad daylight, accompanied by a fifth-generation J-20 fighter. It had a triangular design without a tail, fueling speculation about its potential to change the global balance of air dominance.

The Chinese government and military have not made any official comments about the plane. But the timing of its debut, which coincided with the birthday of Mao Zedong, the founder of the People’s Republic of China, suggests a deliberate message.

The arrival of the J-36 signals a major leap in China’s military aviation capabilities and poses a challenge to existing U.S. air superiority. This came a month after the Aerospace Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) unveiled its Baidi White Emperor “B Type” sixth-generation fighter at the Zhuhai Air Show in November.

Chinese attack on the defense sector

Since the first efforts of the People’s Liberation Army in the 1980s under Deng Xiaoping, China has made rapid progress in the military sector. This included regular updates to doctrine, organizational structure, equipment and weapons systems to better reflect the changing needs of modern warfare.

However, Beijing’s rapid military rise has tipped the scales of regional power in the Indo-Pacific region, which has been largely dominated by the United States since the end of World War II.