Royal Thai Navy Receives Type 071E ship from China

Amphibious assault ship built by China State Shipbuilding Corp. for Thailand arrived at its homeport, Sattahip Naval Base, on April 25.

The delivery of Type 071E warship HTMS Chang took place a week after it was officially handed over to the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) at the Chinese shipyard.

Thailand signed a contract with China for the procurement of a Type 071E landing platform dock (LPD) in September 2019. The deal was reported to cost only Bt6.1 billion ($200 million). HTMS Chang was launched in December 2021, and completed the sea trials in December 2022.

The Type 071E is an export variant of the Type 071, which is currently in service with the Chinese Navy. The design is 210m long, with a beam of 28m and a displacement of 25,000 tons when fully loaded.

The landing platform dock has a stern well can carry up to four air-cushioned landing craft for amphibious assaults, while hull-mounted davits can carry, launch and recover conventional landing craft. A vehicle deck has space for 60 armored fighting vehicles, and the ship can accommodate 800 troops.

There are also helicopter landing pads for two Z-18 heavy-lift transport helicopters, with hangar space available for four helicopters.