Summary

One of the military highlights of the People’s Republic of China 70^th anniversary celebrations was the unveiling of China’s first amphibious assault ship: the prosaically-named though well-equipped ‘Type 075.’ The ship goes far in remedying a longstanding capability gap for the PLA Navy – the ability to launch assaults along coastlines or islands – and it’s one that impacts the military calculus in a hypothetical invasion of Taiwan or disputed islands within the South China Sea.

Here’s what we know about the Type 075 thus far: