John's Naval, Marine and other Service news - First Air-cushioned Landing Craft for China Arrives in Guangzhou

A cargo ship named HHL New York carries a Zubr-class LCAC hovercraft for the Chinese navy on the Zhujiang River in Guangzhou, capital city of south China's Guangzhou Province on Friday, May, 24, 2013. [Photo: newpobeda.org]

After a month long sea journey, an air-cushioned landing craft, Zubr-class LCAC built for the Chinese navy was delivered at Guangzhou, the capital city of south China's Guangzhou Province last Friday.

China's first Zubr LCAC hovercraft was built at the Feodosiya Shipbuilding Company in the Ukraine and adapted to Chinese needs so that no military weapons and electrical systems were installed.

Construction of a second hovercraft is ongoing for the Chinese navy, which has placed an order for four craft at a reported cost of 315 million US dollars. Two are being built by the Feodosiya Shipbuilding Company, and a second pair of vessels will be built in China under the supervision of Ukrainian technicians.

The Zubr-class LCAC is a class of air-cushioned landing craft of Ukrainian design. This class of military hovercraft is the world's largest hovercraft. It is designed to sealift landing assault units from equipped/non-equipped vessels to non-equipped shores, as well as to transport and plant mines.

Development of Zubr landing ships started in the former Soviet Union in 1978, and the first serial ship joined the Soviet navy in 1988. It has the carrying capacity for 3 main battle tanks with an overall mass of 150 tons or 10 armored personnel carriers weighing up to 131 tons plus 140 marines, or 8 infantry fighting vehicles with mass of up to 115 tons. If not equipped with armor, Zubr is capable of carrying 366 men.