The Yunshu-class of landing ships serving the modern People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of China encompasses ten named ships in the series - from "Mount Sheng" to "Mount Tai". The ships are known to the West under the name of "Type 073A" and were used by the PLAN to succeed the earlier Type 073III series. Commissioned service of the design began in 2000 and the vessels form parts of the East Sea and South Sea Fleets.
The ships are classified as "medium" vessels in the PLAN inventory, intended for the amphibious assault role, and have been consistent participants in the Chinese "show-of-force" when it comes to neighboring Taiwan. The hull series in the class (as of June 2022) are 941, 942, 943, 944, 945, 946, 947, 948, 949, and 950.
The ships displace 2,000 tons under full load and have a bow-to-stern length of 285 feet, a beam of 41 feet, and a draught of 7.4 feet. Power is from 2 x 6PA6L-380 marine diesel engines developing 4,750 horsepower to 2 x Shafts astern. The vessel can make headway at 17 knots in ideal conditions and range out to 1,500 nautical miles. The crew complement numbers seventy personnel. Armament is purely defensive in nature, made up of 2 x 37mm Type 76 series automatic cannons for the Anti-Aircraft (AA) role, these fitted to a turret emplacement at the forecastle. Also carried are 122mm Type 81H surface-to-surface rockets for the land assault.
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