Amphibious armored vehicles attached to a brigade of the PLA Navy's Marine Corps make their way to the beach-head during a maritime offense and defense training exercise recently. Photo:China Military

The Marine Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has conducted a multidimensional landing exercise, in which the capabilities of the Type 075 amphibious assault ship were on full display.

During the recent but undated drill, organized by a brigade of the PLA Navy Marine Corps in an undisclosed and unfamiliar sea region, a group of Type 05 amphibious armored vehicles left the vehicle deck of a Type 075 amphibious assault ship and started to launch a beach assault, according to a report by the PLA Pictorial in its recently released second issue of this year.

After the scout team reported the presence of obstacles in the way and used demolition drones to clear them, the amphibious armored vehicles continued on their way toward the beachhead while overwhelming simulated hostile bunker fires with counter fires, the PLA Pictorial reported.

Assault boats carrying marine troops were also deployed in the obstacle-breaking mission, and rotary wing drones were used to gather battlefield information.

With the mock enemies suffering heavy casualties, the amphibious armored vehicle group started to push deeper onto the shore and started to seize vantage points, and that is when the Z-8 helicopters penetrated air defense from low altitudes, edged near simulated hostile fortresses, and released marine troops via rappelling.

Type 726 air-cushioned landing craft then carried all-terrain assault vehicles and Type 15 light tanks to the land. When the scout team deep behind the mock enemy lines spotted the hostile command post, it summoned artillery fire by using an information guidance terminal.

With the coordinated and encirclement attack by the multiple forces, multiple mock targets were successfully seized, as the realistic combat-oriented exercise tested the forces' joint operational capabilities and verified several tactics in practice, the PLA Pictorial said.

The exercise displayed the high training level of the Type 075 amphibious assault ship and its integration with other amphibious landing elements it can carry, including vehicles, helicopters and landing craft, which offer both horizontal and vertical landing capabilities, said experts.

The PLA Navy now operates three Type 075 amphibious assault ships, also known as landing helicopter docks. The first vessel was commissioned in April 2021.

Chinese military expert and commentator Song Zhongping told the Global Times that such warships could play important roles in potential missions on the island of Taiwan and islands and reefs in the South China Sea.