VIGIL CONSILIUMSearch
Context. Not headlines.
Equipment catalogue · shared across conflicts

Naval vessel

Type 075 and Type 076 amphibious assault ships

Large amphibious vessels — the ship class most often cited in invasion discussion, and one where the analytically interesting point runs against the popular framing.

Type 075 / Type 076ChinaType 075 commissioned from 2021; the Type 076 Sichuan reported preparing for flight testing during 2026.

Status as of
2026-07
Last reviewed
2026-07-20

AssessmentLow confidence

Recognition context, not a stat sheet. The catalogue covers major publicly documented systems relevant to the conflicts Vigil covers — not an exhaustive order of battle. No quantities, availability or current allocations are recorded.

The recordWhat this system is, where it comes from, who operates it and which of Vigil’s modules it is relevant to — with the evidence each of those rests on.

FieldedEvidence: Reported
Silhouette · not to scale

Record

FamilyType 075 / Type 076
VariantsType 075 landing helicopter dock; Type 076 Sichuan
OriginChina
ManufacturerChinese state shipbuilding enterprises
EraType 075 commissioned from 2021; the Type 076 Sichuan reported preparing for flight testing during 2026.
Appears inTaiwan Strait

Conflict relevance

This is the catalogue's single record for this system. It is relevant to the module below; each module's Force Atlas shows how it is used there.

Taiwan Strait · Force Atlas

Operators

People's Republic of China · Primary operator

Battlefield role

Amphibious and aviation operations from a large deck. The Type 076 introduces an electromagnetic catapult intended for uncrewed aircraft, which is a genuine novelty in this class.

Strengths

Substantial aviation and amphibious capacity, and — in the Type 076 — an uncrewed-aviation capability no comparable vessel currently fields.

Limitations

Important context, because this class attracts more speculation than any other: large amphibious ships are principally expeditionary and presence platforms, and specialists consistently note they are not what a large-scale cross-strait landing would depend on. Their growth says more about far-seas ambitions than about the strait. Vigil records reported construction and testing milestones and publishes nothing about amphibious-lift capacity assessments or landing scenarios of any kind.

Campaign relevance

Derived: a participant organisation in these campaigns carries a typed equipment association with this system. That is not the same as documented use of the system in the campaign itself.

Documented conflict use

Reporting during 2026 described the Type 076 Sichuan preparing for flight testing with catapult and deck markings installed, and suggested it could commission before the end of the year. These are reported milestones, not confirmed capability.

Branch & service operators

PartialConfidence: LowSources: US Department of Defense — China Military Power Report↗ · CSIS China Power Project and ChinaPower analysis↗ · IISS Military Balance↗MethodologyCorrections

Assessed as of2026-07Last reviewed2026-07-20