Type 076 landing helicopter dock

The launch ceremony of the lead ship Sichuan
Class overview
Builders	Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard
Operators	People's Liberation Army Navy
Preceded by	Type 075 landing helicopter dock
Completed	1
General characteristics
Type	Drone carrier-amphibious assault ship
Displacement	50,000 t (49,000 long tons) (full load)1
Length	252.3 m (828 ft) -- 260 m (850 ft) (o/a)23
Beam	45 m (148 ft) -- 52 m (171 ft) (o/a)23
Installed power	2 × 21 MW gas turbine42 6 × 6 MW diesel4 Total: 78 MW (105,000 shp) Integrated power system
Propulsion	IEP
Boats & landing craft carried	2 × Type 726 Yuyi class LCAC
Troops	Over 1,000 marines1
Armament	3 x Type 1130 CIWS 3 x 24 round HHQ-10 SAM
Aircraft carried	Helicopters5 UCAVs5
Aviation facilities	Flight deck Hangar deck Electromagnetic catapult

The Type 076 landing helicopter dock (NATO reporting name: Yulan-class landing helicopter assault⁶), also known as the Type 076 amphibious assault ship (Chinese: 076型两栖攻击舰) in its native China, is an upcoming class of amphibious assault ship serving the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).⁷ Compared to the preceding Type 075, the Type 076 is significantly larger in both displacement and flight deck dimensions.⁸

It features a twin-island design superstructure,⁸ a stern well dock,⁹ a CATOBAR system of electromagnetic catapult, and arresting gears for operating light fixed-wing aircraft — likely unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) such as the GJ-21, making it both a landing helicopter dock (LHD) and a drone carrier.²

In mid-2020, official request for proposals (RFP) associated with the Type 076 were published on the Internet. Specifications from the RFPs were for a 21 MW gas turbine and diesel powerplants, a medium-voltage direct current integrated power system, and a well deck. The specified aviation equipment included a UAV deck, a munition elevator, a 30-ton flight deck elevator, an electromagnetic CATOBAR system for light aircraft.

The lead ship of this class was constructed at Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard and was initially expected to be launched in early 2025.² In December 2024, the lead ship was launched, with pennant number 51 and name Sichuan.^10111213 In November 2025, Sichuan started sea trials.¹⁴

The Type 076 has a full-length flight deck, an internal hangar, two large aircraft elevators on both sides and one small elevator at the front deck section.¹⁵ The ship is intended to operate naval helicopters and UAVs, or possibly manned fixed-wing aircraft such as the J-35.¹⁵⁷ Fixed-wing UAVs such as WZ-7 and GJ-11⁵ can be launched via an electromagnetic catapult similar in size to the one mounted on the Type 003 aircraft carrier.¹ An arresting gear is fitted on the aft-deck to facilitate the fixed-wing aircraft landing.¹⁵ A floodable well deck is located at its stern, capable of launching amphibious vehicles for landing operations.⁹

The main propulsion of the class appears to employ a gas turbine setup. For this reason, the ship has a "twin-island" superstructure configuration²⁸ that allows one superstructure dedicated to navigation while the other one focusing on flight operations.⁹ Multiple air defense and countermeasure systems are mounted around the ship, including three Type 1130 close-in weapon system (CIWS) turrets, three HHQ-10 short-range surface-to-air missile batteries, and four countermeasure launchers loaded with flares, chaff and sonar decoys.⁹

Type 076 is larger than the preceding Type 075 amphibious assault ship.⁹¹⁶ The overall tonnage of the ship was estimated as 50,000 tonnes (49,000 long tons) at full displacement by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.¹ Chinese state media states that the ship has a displacement of "above 40,000 tonnes (39,000 long tons)".¹⁷