China expands amphibious fleet for Taiwan invasion — SkimNews
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- China is constructing six new Type 071 amphibious transport dock warships across two shipyards, expanding its fleet by 75% to a total of 14 vessels capable of carrying thousands of troops and armored vehicles.
- PLAN currently has dedicated naval capacity to land 23,000 to 29,800 troops and about 1,100 armored vehicles in an initial assault wave, a force still outnumbered by Taiwan’s estimated 85,000–110,000 defending troops.
- Civilian roll-on/roll-off ferries in China’s fleet provide over 1.1 million displacement tons of sealift—more than triple the naval amphibious capacity—and could deliver up to 300,000 troops in 10 days once a beachhead is secured.
- J. Michael Dahm assesses that civilian ferries cannot support an initial assault on Taiwan through at least 2030 due to vulnerabilities including lack of combat survivability, dependence on undamaged ports, and inability to operate under enemy fire.
- The War Zone reports China is deploying massive jack-up barges as ship-to-shore connectors, enabling roll-on/roll-off ferries to offload directly onto beaches without relying on fixed port infrastructure.
- CSIS notes China’s amphibious fleet—both military and civilian—is highly vulnerable in the Taiwan Strait to long-range anti-ship missiles from U.S. bombers, allied submarines, and Taiwanese coastal defenses, risking catastrophic attrition.
Why it matters: China’s amphibious buildup increases its capacity to launch a large-scale invasion of Taiwan, but the reliance on vulnerable civilian vessels and untested infrastructure means even a numerically superior force could be crippled during transit, making sustained land operations highly uncertain and raising the stakes for pre-invasion deterrence.
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