Chinese Armed Container Ship

Scott Kenny said:
So, 60x strike-length missile cells.

What about the radars? Are those primarily air-search types or (OTH?) surface-search?

I'm expecting air search radars, as a way to keep the two largest air forces in the world from blowing the Chinese merchant fleet out of the water.
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I see this as an escorted asset; an arsenal ship on the cheap. Probably primarily strike oriented, IMO.

EDIT: well on the other hand the radar installation is a lot more than necessary for that. It seems puzzling to me why a navy with an abundance of escorts would build such a thing.
 
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Sferrin said:
And the first time they use one it's open season on Chinese cargo, fishing, etc. ships.
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That probably happens anyway, and a single large strike against more or less defenseless targets in the U.S. could have an extreme impact.
 
Scott Kenny said:
No, I don't think it's a Q ship.

I think it's going to be a military-flagged vessel to operate as a coastal convoy escort. "Armed Merchantman" not "Q-ship"
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Why would PLAN need that? It has an abundance of escorts. More over this ship has at most point defense radars. The purpose seems quite clearly to be a strike asset to me, either as a military auxiliary attached to a TF or a clandestine platform for deep strikes. Cruise missiles require nothing like the complexity of a combat system.

EDIT: see above, it does have radars that seem to make it truly a SAM shooter. It is surprising to me that such a thing would be desired by PLAN.
 
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Josh_TN said:
Why would PLAN need that? It has an abundance of escorts. More over this ship has at most point defense radars. The purpose seems quite clearly to be a strike asset to me, either as a military auxiliary attached to a TF or a clandestine platform for deep strikes. Cruise missiles require nothing like the complexity of a combat system.

EDIT: see above, it does have radars that seem to make it truly a SAM shooter. It is surprising to me that such a thing would be desired by PLAN.
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I think it's intended to escort coastal convoys, where the PLAN doesn't have enough escorts to protect them.
 
While this is packing whole arsenal , i imagine its just a demonstration of the containerized payload integration, the concept would be stealth arsenal blending into commercial traffic ,playing a shell game to provide hidden strike capability. Its a hell of a shell game 50.000 ships at sea now find ones that carry deadly payload.
 
Mr.T said:
While this is packing whole arsenal , i imagine its just a demonstration of the containerized payload integration, the concept would be stealth arsenal blending into commercial traffic ,playing a shell game to provide hidden strike capability. Its a hell of a shell game 50.000 ships at sea now find ones that carry deadly payload.
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The other interesting side of it being whether the host vessel even knows the payload it is carrying. Will it be orchestrated that these containers are on the top level and can be operated by satellite remotely.
 
Josh_TN said:
I see this as an escorted asset; an arsenal ship on the cheap. Probably primarily strike oriented, IMO.

EDIT: well on the other hand the radar installation is a lot more than necessary for that. It seems puzzling to me why a navy with an abundance of escorts would build such a thing.
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World war III
 
Mr.T said:
While this is packing whole arsenal , i imagine its just a demonstration of the containerized payload integration, the concept would be stealth arsenal blending into commercial traffic ,playing a shell game to provide hidden strike capability. Its a hell of a shell game 50.000 ships at sea now find ones that carry deadly payload.
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Maybe for strike loads.

But trying to guide SAMs on incoming AShMs or bombers means you need the very obvious radars installed.

Also, anyone throwing a strike out of a merchant ship just declared every single ship flying their flag as a combatant. Which means that they're going to get deleted on sight.
 
I remember in many defence publications, Post Falklands War, the proliferation of proposals of auxiliary armed container ships. In truth, I'm surprised it's taken so long to come to fruition.

Regards
Pioneer

​

 
Josh_TN said:
Why would PLAN need that? It has an abundance of escorts. More over this ship has at most point defense radars. The purpose seems quite clearly to be a strike asset to me, either as a military auxiliary attached to a TF or a clandestine platform for deep strikes. Cruise missiles require nothing like the complexity of a combat system.

EDIT: see above, it does have radars that seem to make it truly a SAM shooter. It is surprising to me that such a thing would be desired by PLAN.
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Can't these ships be scanned, thus no surprise element?
 
Is it really inferior in terms of survivability? Depending on the container ship used, it might have sufficient volume and subdivisions to make hits on large parts of it ineffective. Add a few containers full of sand?

I suppose the really vulnerable spaces might be only the machinery and the VLS cells themselves (which might lack proper damage control measures). But otherwise it might take quite a bit more to sink?
 
Scott Kenny said:
I think it's intended to escort coastal convoys, where the PLAN doesn't have enough escorts to protect them.
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Some sort of mobilization ship, which can be produced in (unknown) numbers at will regardless of schedules of normal military shipyards - including if there's going to be interference with their operations.
 
Scott Kenny said:
Maybe for strike loads.

But trying to guide SAMs on incoming AShMs or bombers means you need the very obvious radars installed.

Also, anyone throwing a strike out of a merchant ship just declared every single ship flying their flag as a combatant. Which means that they're going to get deleted on sight.
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Ships will be registered in Liberia no.1 register of ships disposable some rust bucket , flag means nothing

Like said they are demonstrating payloads , ship themselves can by of any type any armament mix of what fits the purpose.they can use them on trucks or rail and quickly deploy

Containers could be smuggled inside US or Mexico or EU ,same as those Ukraine used on Russian bombers ,providing first or second strike capability possible from a neighboring country that has no knowledge of it, imagine a scenario where US navy is hit in ports from Canada or Mexico

 
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Josh_TN said:
I see this as an escorted asset; an arsenal ship on the cheap. Probably primarily strike oriented, IMO.

EDIT: well on the other hand the radar installation is a lot more than necessary for that. It seems puzzling to me why a navy with an abundance of escorts would build such a thing.
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cargo ships are loudly:
->professional escorts have to keep some range away to use their sonar effectively.
(particularly for which running TAS/VDS)
->it might left some gaps for USV and AShM/ASBM.
->fill this gaps with aux AA ship seems much economic.
 
Mr.T said:
Ships will be registered in Liberia no.1 register of ships disposable some rust bucket , flag means nothing
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Coastal freighters like this? Not likely.

But fair point about the nuisance of Flags of Convenience.



Mr.T said:
Containers could be smuggled inside US or Mexico or EU ,same as those Ukraine used on Russian bombers ,providing first or second strike capability possible from a neighboring country that has no knowledge of it, imagine a scenario where US navy is hit in ports from Canada or Mexico

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Again, any SAMs would require highly visible radars to provide targeting data.

AShMs would be a different discussion, but then you're shooting AShMs at or over hills and mountains. Also, I'm not sure there's a container port within AShM range of the Seattle area bases. San Diego, sure thing, Tijuana is literally right there. Not sure about East Coast bases.
 
There will be many payloads. SAM system might not the the most used one , its the most expensive and like you mentioned due to radar not the stealthiest , but still you need a radar detecting and triangulation to find one .

When ships are parked in ports , any cruise missile will do .

No one has any AD in home bases , getting a container in place is not rocket science as the logistics involved would not know what they are shipping. Like in Russia those drivers that knew nothing just the rute and at which petrol station they should make a stop.
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I believe many people have misinterpreted that slogan. It doesn't represent a private organization or an NGO; it's more like a positive political phrase, such as "Global Unity" or "Building a Peaceful Ocean." Using it on a warship is a form of dark humor.

Now, I'd like to share my opinion.

The ship is docked at a state-owned shipyard, and in some photos, you can even see the 076 behind it, so this likely isn't a private company's project. The vessel is heavily armed with advanced weaponry: two CIWS is excessive for its ship—it's more typical of amphibious assault ships or aircraft carriers. The phased array radar also seems overkill for this ship(though that doesn't mean it's unnecessary).

Therefore, this ship resembles more of a demonstration project. It showcases to the military a capability—the ability to integrate various weapons onto a commercial vessel, adapting it to diverse combat scenarios, transforming it into a warship.

In wartime, the configuration wouldn't be as extensive as this ship's. It might lack CIWS, phased array radar, over-the-horizon radar, and the number of VLSs would likely be significantly reduced. Another new configurations could emerge instead. For example, helicopter decks and hangars, cranes and maintenance facilities for unmanned submarines and surface ships, and so on.

I believe its primary purpose is defensive. It is not intended to aggressively approach the coastlines of hostile nations to launch missiles or actively attack their ships.

It provides warships with capabilities that are scarce or lacking. Its functions likely fall into the following two categories:

First, to support combat operations of warships.

1. A Type 052D destroyer or other primary air-defense warship is fending off a saturation attack by guided weapons sea from the U.S & Japan in the eastern waters of Taiwan Island.

In such a scenario, the air-defense missiles on the 052D would deplete rapidly, and returning to port to reload its VLS would be extremely difficult. At this point, multiple armed container ships could provide additional VLS cells and more air-defense missiles, extending combat endurance. Even better, the 052D wouldn't need to return to port—only the armed container ships would need to go back to reload their VLS. A low-cost arsenal ship.

2. A Type 056A corvette is conducting escort or anti-submarine operations. Although the 056 has a helicopter deck, it lacks a hangar, limiting its ability to support helicopter operations for extended periods.

An armed container ship equipped with both a helicopter deck and hangar could compensate for this shortcoming. Similarly, such a ship could feature UAV launch/recovery decks and hangars, along with cranes and maintenance facilities for unmanned submarines and surface ships. The 056A lacks anti-submarine missiles, but the VLS on an armed container ship could fill that gap.

Second, to provide the most basic protection for a merchant ship group.

In the worst-case scenario, where no regular naval escorts are available, they can provide protection for merchant ship groups. By installing radar, naval guns, and VLS (Vertical Launch Systems), an armed container ship can gain considerable temporary combat capability. Its firepower is not inferior to that of LCS, FF(X), or other U.S allied frigates. It possesses decent counterattack capabilities against surface and aerial threats. Its main weakness is dealing with underwater threats.

Armed container ships can mitigate losses through distributed deployment. For instance, ship A could be equipped with radar, ship B solely with VLS, and ship C with unmanned vehicle modules... This capabilitie requires highly advanced communication and networking capabilities. If successfully implemented, it would serve as a potent tool for realizing the distributed maritime operations concept.
 
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TwoTribes said:
I believe many people have misinterpreted that slogan. It doesn't represent a private organization or an NGO; it's more like a positive political phrase, such as "Global Unity" or "Building a Peaceful Ocean." Using it on a warship is a form of dark humor.
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"A Global Force for Good" just wasn't as cool as "Accelerate Your Life" gonna be honest.
 
Scott Kenny said:
Also, I'm not sure there's a container port within AShM range of the Seattle area bases.
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Port of Vancouver says hi! And of course it's almost as easy to launch within the Strait of San Juan de Fuca if you want to get closer still.
 
Some are saying the CCAs seen might be part of the container ship's weapon systems, and might be of a RATO/ZELL type to launch from the ship.
 
Scott Kenny said:
Coastal freighters like this? Not likely.

But fair point about the nuisance of Flags of Convenience.




Again, any SAMs would require highly visible radars to provide targeting data.

AShMs would be a different discussion, but then you're shooting AShMs at or over hills and mountains. Also, I'm not sure there's a container port within AShM range of the Seattle area bases. San Diego, sure thing, Tijuana is literally right there. Not sure about East Coast bases.
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Anything would be in range of a container terminal.
 
lancer21 said:
Some are saying the CCAs seen might be part of the container ship's weapon systems, and might be of a RATO/ZELL type to launch from the ship.
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The Type 076 is in dry dock at Hudong-Zhonghua, it's possible all of these CCA airframes and the Wing Loong/CH-series UAV are intended for Sichuan rather than the container ship.
 
lancer21 said:
This is said to be a truck mounted EMALS launcher for drones. If so then it's likely this is earmarked for the container ship, since Sichuan already has EMALS.
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You are correct IMG_20251231_105338.jpg
Not only are they looking at ways to turn, large, cheap and inconspicuous hulls into missile platforms. With this EMCAT-centipede-truck-thingy they can make any sufficiently large ship into a drone carrier. And because these are individual modules, the catapult length can be scaled depending on what ships and drones you have available.

As for the trucks, these and the chonky laser trucks they've shown at the parade are hinting at the advancement in energy storage the Chinese have made imo. Be it batteries or supercapacitors, they can lean heavily on the their civilian research and technology which is leading in the field, like their electric car industry.

I think this is getting more and more interesting, picture for picture.

Edit:
As I'm chatting with a friend over this, I just wondered. Given that there are so many large, cheap, civilian style hulls in China, one has to seriously wonder what the actual wartime displacement of their fleet would be. If such ships are to be counted as well. Surely for now these are just demonstrations, the EMCAT trucks seem to be associated with a University that has ties to the PLA. But if such systems are developed to maturity and implemented, well than the wartime fleet will be enormous, maybe even approaching WW2 levels of enormous. Because any sufficiently seaworthy vessel could be armed with missiles, with drones, with lasers, all of various sizes and capabilities. And they have the yards and people to actually do that, which is what makes such concepts far more feasible for China than...well anyone else really.
 
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Scott Kenny said:
I still think it's going to be something like the Catapult-Armed Merchantman or other armed merchant ships.

Not intended to be a replacement for any combatants in battle, intended to free up small combatants from escorting the coastal shipping.
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Who in their right mind would think this would replace a proper warship? China churned out military ships in 2025 that match the entire French Navy in total tonnage. They are not desperate to press such ships into duty because they don't have proper ships. No, these are for mobilization on top of the PLAN and Coast Guard, to leverage the immense amount of merchant vessels that China produces and operates, and incredible number of hulls, so cheap, so much real estate to work with on their decks. Millions of tonnage of force multiplication on top of the most powerful Navy in the Pacific Ocean.
 
Scott Kenny said:
Not intended to be a replacement for any combatants in battle, intended to free up small combatants from escorting the coastal shipping.
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Yep, most likely so. It's basically a "rearguard" unit, intended for performing secondary duties - escorting convoys, patrolling, protecting rear areas - so "proper" warships could be freed to do more important (and risky) jobs.

It MIGHT be deployed with fleet, though, but mainly as reserve force, or, for example, additional air cover for amphibious landings. Imagine several dozens of such auxilary cruisers forming internal air defense perimeter around Taiwan landing zones.
 
In_A_Dream said:
China studies the Art of War, nothing is off the table.
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Much more importantly they're willing to research and then test new technologies and concepts. This applies to both their civilian and military portions of society. I've talked to people who attend some of the more prestigious universities, some of which have big cooperations with the PLA. Quite frankly, I don't see a similar vigor in the US academia, which seems to negatively affect the industrial and military sector down the line. In a world ruled by STEM, gender study graduates or marketing majors won't bring you naval supremacy, won't bring you the lead in the field of hypersonic weaponry, battery technology and many other fields.

So this is less 'The Art of War' (although still extensively taught and studied in China as you say, although the likes of Clausewitz are not foreign to them either) and simply a highly motivated society determined to capitalize on the momentum they managed to generate over the past decades. Their society is far from flawless, as is their military procurement (we in the west usually don't become aware of the delays or hiccups), but they are simply very focused and invested in what's important for any future confrontation with any adversary.

Quite frankly, it's only natural that the largest shipbuilder in the world will gradually become the main source of naval innovation, research and prototyping.
 
Ozair said:
The other interesting side of it being whether the host vessel even knows the payload it is carrying. Will it be orchestrated that these containers are on the top level and can be operated by satellite remotely.
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Finally something in my field of expertise :p
Ships only have a vague idea of what they are carrying, for safety. But nobody with bad intentions will give away the nature of their cargo of course. You can "choose" where your container roughly ends up on a ship. It is actually quit easy. You tell the shipping company that you want your container to be unloaded on the first port it reaches ( your target is somewhere along the route) and second you tell them that you want to spend as little as possible on the shipping. Which mean your container will end up on the top levels. Why is it cheaper? The risk of losing your container is much higher is your container is high in the stack on a container ship. Those in the belly of the ship are impossible to loose, those stacked the highest has the greatest risk of going overboard. ( Each layer is secured/linked to the layer below, and each link has a risk of failing.)

The biggest problem with this system, to blindly send weapons on a random ship is that there needs to be a powersource for each container, a method of communication between all parts (That is a lot of space for redundant systems, space that your weapon can't use...) and a whole load of luck to pull it off... With a bit of bad luck your radar is buried underneath under another container and can't pop out to scan its surroundings.. Or systems that are on two different ends of the ship unable to communicate with each other because the signal gets blocked by the tons of steel between them.. Or right behind the bridge or another obstacle, making it unable to orient towards a target..
A dedicated system makes more sense, but it leaves to many traces to its maker...
 

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