China has confirmed series production of the Type 728 hovercraft, bringing the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN’s) total fleet of the world’s largest air-cushion landing craft (LCAC) to a minimum of nine, Naval News reported on March 30.
China is the only nation investing in giant hovercraft, pursuing series production of the Zubr-class vessels for amphibious assault ops 🇨🇳https://t.co/cFWboagV5k
— Naval News (@navalnewscom) March 30, 2026
The Type 728 is China’s domestically produced variant of the Soviet-designed Project 1232.2 Zubr, known by its NATO reporting name Pomornik-class. Each vessel can carry 500 troops, three main battle tanks (MBTs), or 10 armored fighting vehicles (AFVs) with 230 troops, at 55 knots over a range of 300 nautical miles.
The craft rides on an air cushion rather than a hull, allowing it to traverse water, sand, marshland, and undeveloped shorelines without contacting the seafloor.
That characteristic renders it substantially less vulnerable to bottom-influence naval mines, an asymmetric coastal defense that analysts have long identified as one of Taiwan’s most practical deterrents to amphibious assault.
China acquired its first four Zubr-class vessels from Ukraine under a $315 million contract signed in 2009. Two were built at the Feodosiya Shipbuilding Company in Crimea and two were assembled from kits in China, with delivery completed in 2021.
Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 cut Ukraine off from the Feodosiya facility. China, which had already received blueprints and technology transfer under the contract, proceeded with independent domestic production.
At least five locally built Type 728 units now exist, up from the two previously confirmed, pushing the PLAN’s fleet to nine.
🚨 🇨🇳 CHINA IS NOW MASS-PRODUCING THE WORLD’S BIGGEST HOVERCRAFT
Naval News says China now has at least nine Zubr-class hovercraft, with series production still ongoing.
Each can carry 500 troops or three tanks, and analysts say the logic points at Taiwan.
Source: NewsForce https://t.co/ElfOWTBNiG pic.twitter.com/h54xFS2BMs
— NewsForce (@Newsforce) March 31, 2026
Two Chinese Type 728 (Zubr class) air-cushioned landing craft (LCAC) were present in a satellite imagery dated Sunday 29 March at the Jiangnan Shipyard, at the location where these craft are typically seen at Jiangnan. While it’s uncertain whether these two are newly built or… pic.twitter.com/JrMLipuySx
— Eurasia Naval Insight (@EurasiaNaval) March 30, 2026
Russia fields two Zubr-class vessels and Greece operates four. The Chinese variant adds an updated radar station, an improved communications mast, and additional rescue equipment to the base design.
According to Naval News, a fleet of 10 to 12 craft is assessed as plausible, with China retaining the capacity to expand further. Beijing has not publicly disclosed a production target.
The Type 728 expansion follows the December 2024 launch of China’s Type 076 amphibious assault ship and satellite-confirmed construction of amphibious landing barges at Guangzhou Shipyard International, each adding a distinct capability layer to the PLAN’s amphibious order of battle.
