The Type 072 family is a Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy tank landing ship line used for beachable amphibious lift, vehicle transport, and near-seas logistics. It evolved from the original 1970s Type 072 into Type 072II, Type 072III, Type 072A, and Type 072B batches, with later ships adding stern access, helicopter-deck facilities, improved armament, and larger vehicle/troop loads while remaining simpler than China's Type 071 dock landing ships and Type 075 landing helicopter docks.
The Type 072 line sits between smaller Chinese medium landing ships and the larger Type 071/Type 075 amphibious ships: it is a beachable tank landing ship family optimized for moving vehicles, troops, and cargo directly toward a landing area, while later Chinese dock and helicopter ships support more over-the-horizon landing methods.
| Feature | Earlier Type 072 ships | Later Type 072A/072B ships |
|---|---|---|
| Landing method | Bow-door beaching and direct vehicle delivery from a full-length vehicle deck. | Bow and stern access with improved arrangements for vehicles, landing craft, and beach-support movement. |
| Aviation | No full helicopter facilities on the original ships; Type 072II added a helicopter landing deck. | Helipad arrangement for medium helicopters, improving vertical movement and ship-to-shore flexibility. |
| Lift role | Large domestic PLAN LST able to carry tank-company-scale vehicles and troops. | Commonly listed with roughly 10 armored vehicles and up to about 250 embarked troops, with later batches remaining active in the fleet. |
The Type 072 family is best read as a design line rather than one identical class: NATO reporting generally separates the older Yukan ships from later Yuting/Yuting II batches, while Chinese and specialist sources use Type 072, Type 072II, Type 072III, Type 072A, and Type 072B designations.
| Variant | Configuration | Designation notes |
|---|---|---|
| Type 072 | Original Yukan-class tank landing ship | GlobalSecurity describes the first Type 072 as a late-1970s large tank landing ship able to carry a tank company-scale vehicle load and troops. Sources: GlobalSecurity Type 072 Yukan class landing ship, GlobalSecurity Amphibious Warfare Ships - PLAN |
| Type 072II | Improved Yuting-family batch | The Type 072II retained the basic tank-landing-ship role while changing the stern arrangement and adding a helicopter landing deck without a hangar. Sources: GlobalSecurity Yuting-class large landing ship, GlobalSecurity Amphibious Warfare Ships - PLAN |
| Type 072III | Further improved Yuting I batch | Open-source fleet listings and exercise reporting identify Type 072III ships as an active follow-on batch within the same large landing-ship family. Sources: GlobalSecurity Yuting-class large landing ship, Global Times PLAN landing ships hold combat exercises |
| Type 072A / Type 072B | Yuting II later-production batches | The later Type 072A/072B ships use the 120 m hull class with through-deck vehicle access, stern loading arrangements, helicopter facilities, and updated gun armament on later hulls. Sources: SeaForces Type 072A Yuting II class, Helis Type 072A Yuting II class, GlobalSecurity Amphibious Warfare Ships - PLAN |
GlobalSecurity describes the PLAN requirement for a faster large tank landing ship as beginning in the mid-1970s, before construction of the first Type 072 hull.
Sources: GlobalSecurity Amphibious Warfare Ships - PLAN
The first Type 072 was delivered to the East Sea Fleet after construction at Shanghai Zhonghua Shipyard, establishing the family as a larger domestic PLAN landing-ship line.
Sources: GlobalSecurity Amphibious Warfare Ships - PLAN
SeaForces and Helis list the first Type 072A/Yuting II hulls entering PLAN service from 2003 through 2005.
Sources: SeaForces Type 072A Yuting II class, Helis Type 072A Yuting II class
Later Type 072A hulls commissioned from 2015 added updated gun armament and kept the family in new production after the first nine Type 072A ships.
Sources: SeaForces Type 072A Yuting II class, Helis Type 072A Yuting II class
Chinese state-media reporting described a South China Sea landing-ship task force that included Type 072III and Type 072A ships conducting realistic training and live-fire drills.
Sources: Global Times PLAN landing ships hold combat exercises
