China’s Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard has completed sea trials for the HTMS Chang (III), a Type 071E Landing Platform Dock (LPD) built for the Royal Thai Navy.
Test results indicate that all of the ship’s performance parameters of the Type 071E, an export variant of the Type 071, met or exceeded the contractually stipulated requirements, which has been warmly welcomed by Thai officials.
Thailand signed a contract with China for the procurement of a Type 071E landing platform dock (LPD) on September 9, 2019, in a deal reported to cost just 6.1 billion baht (US$200 million).
‘Chang’ means ‘elephant’ but it is also the name of an island in Thailand where a major Royal Thai Navy battle took place. The Battle of Koh Chang took place on January 17, 1941. Thai Navy Landing ships and auxiliary vessels are named after Thai islands and the HTMS Chang is the third ship to bear this name.
The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) currently has eight vessels of the Type 071 class commissioned in its fleet, with Thailand being the first export customer of the class.
At 210 meters long and 28 meters wide, the Type 071 is capable of carrying 800 marines (1 battalion) and some 20 amphibious vehicles. (NNT)
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