07 Januari 2023
The launching ceremony of a large landing ship HTMS Chang (3rd ship) at the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group (HZ) shipyard near Shanghai, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC), a state-owned shipbuilding enterprise of the People's Republic of China held on January 4, 2023, marks an important event that The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) considered the ceremony to be the actual launching and naming of the ship. It is expected that the ship will be delivered around April 2023.
The Royal Thai Navy signed a supply contract for a Type 071E LPD (Landing Platform Dock) class with China on September 9, 2019, in the amount of approximately 6,100,000,000 baht ($200 million).
The Type 071E amphibious landing ship is an export model based on the Type 071-class amphibious landing dock used by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), with the Royal Thai Navy as its first export customer which has different characteristics from the ships used by China at some points.
HTMS Chang LPD 792 (photo : AAG)
Large landing ship HMS Chang (the 3rd ship) was seen being taken out of the dry dock of the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard on December 23, 2021, along with China's 34th Type 054A-class frigates and the fourth and last Tughril-class (Type 054AP) frigates of the Pakistan Navy.
From the nameplate at the stern of the boat shown in the picture, it is clear that the name of the boat is "HTMS Chang", named after Koh Chang, according to the rules for naming a landing ship, it is the third ship to be given this name.
HTMS Chang Type 071E LPD has been carrying out fitting work throughout 2022 at a dock near the HZ shipyard and China has announced the success of its first sea trial in December 2022.
HTMS Chang (the 3rd ship) has been painted with the bow number "792", which is the number after the large landing ship HTMS Ang Thong (3rd ship), which is the first LPD landing ship of the Royal Thai Navy, making it even if it's a different set of ships (class) but the Navy is classified as the same boat according to its capabilities.
According to the 20-year strategy of the Royal Thai Navy, 2017-2036, the Royal Thai Navy needs a new large landing ship to replace the HTMS Ang Thong (2nd) series of large landing ships and 5 ships that are Landing Ship Tanks (LST) used to serve the Navy.
HTMS Chang LPD 792 (photo : RTN)
Whereas all 5 ships of the Royal Thai Navy, HTMS Ang Thong (the 2nd ship) has been decommissioned, and was replaced by two LPD large multipurpose landing ships, HTMS Ang Thong (3rd ship) (LPD-791 HTMS Angthong) and HTMS Chang (3rd ship) from a total of 4 ships, which the other two will depend on the future.
A series of images of ship trials at sea in China show that HTMS Chang (the 3rd ship) has been equipped with basic systems including large machinery, electric machines, and floating docks, but there is still no combat management system and weapons such as OTO Melara 76/62 naval guns like HTMS Ang Thong (3rd ship) expected to be installed when the ship returns to Thailand.
It may be a gun removed from a decommissioned ship stored in the Naval Ordnance Warehouse, NIDA, where the Royal Thai Navy has experience in installing western systems on Chinese-built ships in the country, from the frigates of the HTMS Naresuan series and 2 offshore patrol boats of the HTMS Pattani series.
(AAG)