China launches first Type 076 amphibious assault ship

China unveiled its largest and most advanced amphibious assault ship on Friday in Shanghai, naming it after the southwestern province of Sichuan.

With a hull code of 51, the CNS Sichuan is the first in the Type 076 class and is being built at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, a Shanghai-based subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp, the nation's dominant naval hardware contractor.

According to the People's Liberation Army Navy, the ship will displace more than 40,000 metric tons of water and will carry fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and amphibious landing craft.