A large Chinese merchant vessel equipped with weapons systems has been spotted departing port and is possibly set to conduct testing, military expert Wang Chen-ming (王臻明) said today on Facebook.
The Zhongda 79 (中達79) civilian container ship has reportedly been fitted with weapons systems, including vertical launching systems, four close-in weapon systems (CIWS) and decoy launchers, he said.
The “military-civil fusion” strategy of disguising weapons systems within standard shipping containers is a “gray zone” warfare tactic to complicate targeting decisions for Beijing’s opponents, a TechTimes report said.
Photo from Wang Chen-ming’s Facebook
The “arsenal merchant vessel” was first observed last month and again earlier this month at Shanghai’s Hudong-Zhudong shipyard as it received multiple containerized armaments, a report by US Naval Institute News said.
Armaments included a system resembling a loyal wingman — an artificial intelligence-controlled uncrewed aerial vehicle designed to fly alongside crewed fighter jets — and an electromagnetic aircraft launch system used to launch aircraft from the deck of naval aircraft carriers, Wang said.
Observing the ship’s movements, it could be testing for seaworthiness, he added.
This indicates that the ship is not a movie prop or deckside test platform, but a fully seaworthy vessel, he said.
However, only live-fire tests would prove whether the onboard weapons systems are fully operational, he added.
The ship appears to be equipped with 15 containerized guided missile launchers, which could amount to up to 60 launch cells, he said.
Four different CIWS units are installed on the fore of the ship, while the aft features large radar systems and communications antennas, he said.
If the sea test proves successful, China could gain the capability to rapidly convert ordinary cargo ships into firepower launch platforms, posing a substantial threat, he added.
Zhongda 79 is an example of China’s growing capability to equip hundreds of civilian merchant ships with launch platforms to potentially support large-scale combat operations and surprise attacks, particularly in the first and second island chains, US Naval Institute News said.
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