The largest Chinese semi-submersible platform ship "Guang Hua Kou". The 68-meter width of its deck allows to take on the platform bulky cargo, for example, a large oil platform, up to 3 ships of the "frigate" or "destroyer" class. The "gate" (the space between the rear mooring superstructures) allows to increase the length of the payload (with a width of up to 35.7 m) up to 208.4 m, i.e. the transport can carry ships of the "cruiser" or "helicopter carrier" classes. Semi-submersible transports of this class will be able to support the formations of the PRC fleet absolutely anywhere in the World Ocean, which opens the first stage of the global presence of the Celestial Empire in the "Great Game"
When the military command of a developed state with the status of a regional superpower talks about conducting a strategic military operation using its own fleet, or about the participation of its own navies in the naval grouping of the coalition, the question immediately arises about the indicators of the autonomy of the naval formation, and also its combat stability, which depend on many factors of this most complex floating "organism": from performance characteristics and network-centric capabilities of ship's CIUS to correctly calculated arsenals of missile / torpedo / artillery weapons, logistics and food supplies with fresh water. The calculation should proceed from the pre-predicted strike and defensive potentials of the enemy, as well as the remoteness of the theater of operations from its own and friendly air bases and naval bases. Often, all the resources of a naval or aircraft carrier strike group prepared for a military operation correspond or exceed the means at the disposal of the enemy, but there are often exceptions that require a better technological level of their own shipborne air defense systems, SCRC, PLUR, etc. This option is valid for a hypothetical confrontation between Russia and NATO. Very important for AUG and KUG in these cases is the presence of a sufficient number of support vessels, rescue vessels, special-purpose ships, mine-sweeping ships, hospital ships, or the introduction of these functions into ships of the main classes.
Of great importance for the autonomy is also the displacement of support and special-purpose vessels, among which semi-submerged sea transports / landing platforms / dry docks are distinguished as a separate "trump" class, capable of transporting the repair, food and weapons base of the formation for tens of thousands of kilometers, transferring landing units (dozens speed boats with infantrymen, patrol boats, landing craft on air cushion), take on board and lift above sea level ships of the classes "corvette", "SK", "frigate" for quick troubleshooting associated with damage to the hull below the current waterline, or on the propellers and steering elements located on the stock. Of course, the type of ships being lifted depends on the displacement of the semi-submerged vessel.
Thus, the Dutch semi-submerged cargo ships MV “Blue Marlin” and its sister ship MV “Black Marlin” managed to distinguish themselves with a decent amount of unique cargo transportation; especially the first. In 2000, he delivered the URO destroyer DDG-67 USS Cole to the United States (Pascagulu), damaged by an Al-Qaeda inflatable motor boat filled with explosives in the Yemeni port of Aden; Cole's displacement is about 8,500 tons, length 153, 92 m, which required a diagonal placement of the destroyer relative to the 157, 2 meter deck of the transport dock (including mooring equipment). In 2007, he delivered a marine floating multifunctional early warning radar and illumination SBX-1 from Pearl Harbor to Alaska. But these ships are commercial, and now we will consider military options.
American semi-submerged transport ship USNS "Montford Point" (T-MLP-1), which in the US Navy is often referred to as a mobile landing platform (MLP, Mobile Landing Platform), despite a displacement of 78,000 tons and a length of 233 m (with a width of 50 m), capable of taking on board up to 600 tons of cargo and up to 320 infantrymen. Up to two LCAC amphibious hovercraft docks are installed on deck. Each 185-ton hovercraft can carry 1 MBT M1A2 SEP, up to 3 US AAV-7 amphibious vehicles, up to 5 155 mm M-777 howitzers, or up to 180 infantrymen; The T-MLP-1 is capable of transporting any type of attack transport helicopters and V-22 "Osprey" converters. Montford Point can deliver these vehicles up to 9,000 miles, plus hundreds of thousands of liters of fresh water and diesel fuel, but the 600-ton load raises some doubts about the repair and recovery capabilities of other types of small and medium-sized warships.
Another thing is the Chinese semi-submerged cargo ship / landing platform "Guang Hua Kou", which was launched at the shipyard "Guangzhou Shipyard International" on April 28, 2016. Here it is immediately clear that the US Navy "sailed and completed control" of the Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea. Compared to what we saw in the photo reports from Guangzhou, Montford Point looks "moderately average." "Guan Hua Kou" has just a huge "aircraft carrier" displacement - 98 thousand tons. The length of the deck, according to preliminary estimates, is 177 m, width - 68 m, which corresponds to the Dutch "heavy cargo", the length of the entire ship is about 245 m; with a slightly longer length, the Chinese ship is much more cargo-carrying, capable of working with ships of the "frigate / destroyer" class, as well as transporting many times large stocks of weapons for naval strike groups.
The main dimensions of the cargo elements of the advanced transport dock of the Chinese fleet "Guan Hua Kou"
Before the appearance of "Guang Hua Kou", the US Navy and NATO were the only owners of this type of ship, but now the situation is changing dramatically. At the Guangzhou shipyard, it is planned to launch more than one semi-submersible dock of this class, as indicated by the pace of emergence of new projects of surface warships of the Chinese Navy, as well as the available equipment, along with the ambitions of the PRC in the Indian Ocean and the Asia-Pacific region. Without hesitation for a long time, I can definitely assume that the cruising range of this powerful dock will exceed 12 thousand miles. This will allow the future Chinese IBM and AUG to feel very confident up to the ocean approaches to the Atlantic Ocean or Alaska; if supported by our submarine component and the icebreaker fleet, the Chinese fleet will be able to participate in the "Arctic Race", especially since the prerequisites for this already exist.
For example, the Chinese Shanghai Research Center for Polar Regions has been carrying out painstaking work for 27 years to study the polar regions of our planet, their flora, fauna, and natural resources. Initially, the emphasis was on the Antarctic, but due to the emergence of territorial ambitions of the countries of Europe and North America on the Arctic shelf, the center also focused on the Arctic.
In particular, China is deeply interested in the huge energy resources lying in the Arctic shelf, which, according to the center's report, can be delivered "in a fast and convenient way."After that, the Celestial Empire actively began to establish trade and economic ties with Iceland and Denmark (the latter is the leading player in the "Arctic Race"), investing specifically in the mining capacities of Greenland. Beijing quickly forgot about the convenient southern sea outlet to Antarctica, arguing that the PRC is located in the Northern Hemisphere. In October 2015, 3 warships of the Chinese Navy, namely, the destroyer URO Type 052C "Jinan" (board 152), the missile frigate Type 054A "Yiyang" (board 548) and the support ship "Qiandaohu", after the anti-piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden were sent on a visit to the ports of the northern states of Europe - Denmark, Sweden and Finland. This visit was not accidental. First, the Chinese sailors tested and at the same time demonstrated the seaworthiness and endurance of their modern ships of the fleet in the conditions of northern latitudes and unusual meteorological conditions. Secondly, they showed China's interest in the North Atlantic, where the strategically important sea routes of the countries participating in the "Arctic Race" intersect, everything is very significant. Very carefully, “on officialdom,” the Chinese fleetingly test the “ground” on which, perhaps, in the foreseeable future, they will have to operate in the North Atlantic theater of operations, and the semi-submerged amphibious assault platforms of the Guang Hua Kou class will become irreplaceable assistants in these actions.
