Military Technology 06/2020

IFV and ZTL11 Fire Assault Guns, disembarked closer to the beach. Using their inherent 8km/h swim capability, they will rapidly land and move to further extend and exploit the earlier success, followed by the beaching of Landing Ships Tank (LST) to delivery artillery, self-propelled air defence vehicles, tanks and other assets. The PRC’s objective for its amphibious and intervention force structure is to assure the landing force applies the hard lessons of its successes and failures from 1949. Of these, the overriding one is “that the ability to conduct strong counterattacks prior to the establishment of a lodgement is critical to defeating the island landing campaign.” Conversely, the key the assault waves to destroy enemy positions and move with the infan- try, offering direct fire support. The importance of direct fire assault ca- pability with expeditionary force was further acknowledged with the US Army’s development of the M26 76mm SCORPION and later the M551 SHERIDAN Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Vehicle (AARV) for par- achute-dropped units. PRC Naval Power Projection China has, over the last decade in particular, been building its own naval force projection capabilities with both combatant and amphibious ships and naval landing forces (Marines). The People’s Liberation Army – Navy Marines (PLANM) is organized more as a mechanized force, al- beit one focused on amphibious operations. The latest Marine structure reflects Combined Arms Battalions, characterized as either amphibious mechanized or light mechanized units, formed into six brigades. The units are structured for aggressively landing and immediately pushing inland. As Kevin McCauley, a senior US intelligence officer and China expert, reflects in his 2018 paper What has China Learned from Past Amphibious Assaults, the lesson from their assaults against Nationalist islands in 1949 was that, “Once landed, the troops needed to move inland from the beachhead quickly.” It is an imperative that drives their entire approach to the amphibious landing operation. Focus of the first waves is on high-speed, swim-capable combat vehicles, including the ZBD05 amphibious IFV and ZTD05 Amphibious Assault vehicle. Both have planing hulls and powerful water-jet propul- sion, offering water speeds of 25km/h (some sources suggest 40), even in Sea State 4. They can be launched from amphibious ships beyond the ho- rizon to seize a beachhead and commanding terrain beyond, after which, subsequent forces will be landed. Building on this success, other ships will close to deliver other swim-capable vehicles – wheeled ZBL09/ZBD09 20 · MT 6/2020 Topic The initial assault waves consist of high-speed armoured assault vehicles using extended bow planes, retractable suspension and powerful water jet propulsion to achieve high water speed. Typical candidates for this role include the ZTD-05 Amphibious Direct Assault Vehicle, which has a stabilised 105mmm main armament to provide direct fire support and point target engagement. (Photo: NORINCO)