Hwangtaesan-class amphibious transport dock

The Hwangtaesan class is a group of landing platform docks built in Menghe during the 2010s. They are designed to supplement tank landing ships of the Plan 870 and Plan 875 classes, serving as the flagships for Marine Infantry amphibious assault units. The Hwangtaesans are the first Menghean amphibious assault ships to feature a well deck capable of accommodating air cushion landing craft, and they lack bow doors for beaching operations, though they can load and unload troops directly via a side ramp in port.

Development

The Hwangtaesan-class amphibious transport ships were designed during the late 2000s, following a breakdown in relations between Menghe and Innominada over the Ummayan Civil War. They were designed to complement short-range landing groups in operations along the Innominadan coast, deploying Marine Infantry brigades deep behind enemy lines to secure critical port infrastructure and divert Innominadan ground units away from the front. This type of operation required greater endurance and speed, as well as the ability to land ground troops on beaches with less favorable terrain.

The Menghean Navy responded to these needs by ordering design work on a landing platform dock capable of deploying ground troops and vehicles via air cushion landing craft (LCACs) or other smaller transport vessels. Two proposals were considered: one with a 63-meter well deck for two LCACs, and one with a 140-meter well deck for four LCACs and additional light craft. Procurement staff selected the former option, as it left much more room for transportable vehicles.

Design

Aviation facilities

To support airborne delivery of infantry to beachheads, the Hwangtaesan-class features a large hangar capable of accommodating four Gyundoan-Han GH-28 Ppulsoeori helicopters. Usually, the GH-28M land assault variant is used; this has four hardpoints on extended side braces to carry rocket pods and missile launchers, and can transport one reinforced infantry squad. Because of the added hardpoints, this variant requires a wider hangar than the anti-submarine GH-28R/R1.

Aerial photos of the flight deck on Hwangtaesan-class ships shows four painted markings for GH-28 helicopter parking spaces, arranged along the port side aft of the 25-ton crane. Some analysts suggest that these could be used for wartime "overflow parking," allowing an additional four GH-28 helicopters to be carried for short durations on the flight deck itself. This would double the ship's air assault transport capacity, allowing it to deploy two infantry platoons plus supporting arms in a single wave. This assessment was initially considered speculative, but during the Innominadan Crisis the Hanmaesan was observed using extra helicopters on deck, and on exercises in 2019 the Hongdusan was filmed carrying four GH-28Ms on deck and four more in the hangar. Because the added helicopters are left exposed to the elements, this double-embarking approach is likely not viable for long-term patrols and peacetime operations, but it could be useful on short-range operations such as an assault on Portcullia launched from Puerto Alegre.

Transport capacity

In its typical configuration, the Hwangtaesan-class can carry most ground elements of a Mechanized Marine Battalion, with the exception of the Light Tank Company and one Mechanized Marine Company, which are carried on separate ships. For this configuration, six APCs are pre-loaded onto LCACs in the well deck. Alternatively, if the LCACs are removed and the entire well deck is used for vehicle storage, it is possible to carry an entire Mechanized Marine Battalion aboard the ship, though the non-amphibious supply trucks would have to be brought ashore by landing craft from another vessel. Elements of the brigade's Marine Infantry Battalion are distributed between landing ships, and would be embarked on the helicopters and light landing craft or carried aboard LCACs to bolster the manpower of the initial landing element.

In a "logistics landing ship" configuration, the helicopter hangar and helicopter landing area would be used for additional vehicle storage, allowing most vehicular logistics units of a Marine Infantry Brigade to be carried. The well deck can also be used for additional vehicle storage in this configuration, at the cost of requiring the ship to either call on other landing craft in the formation or dock at a captured pier. Such a configuration could be useful when reinforcing a captured beachhead with supplies, or when delivering humanitarian aid to an overseas disaster zone.