When it comes to air cushion landing craft, the first thing that comes to mind by the majority of military fans is the European "bison". After all, this is the world's largest hoverboard, with a full load displacement of 550 tons. And the most eye-catching thing is that such a behemoth, not only at sea can run 60 knots, but also has a strong loading force, take the 96A main battle tank, the European "Bison" at a time performance to send three ashore, and carry a certain amount of fighters.
In addition, its independent combat capabilities are also very strong. Therefore, our country has also taken great pains to import several ships from Ukraine. However, in recent years, there has been little news about the application of "Bison" in military exercises, and at the same time, China's "Mustang" 726-type hovercraft on the sea has begun to appear in the public eye. I think everyone will wonder, why is it not used after the introduction of European "bison", but there are domestic air cushion landing ships?
In fact, although the European "bison" is extremely strong, it is too large, and because it is made in Ukraine, it cannot be well integrated with the main landing group formed by our 071, 075 and so on. Simply put, you run yours and I run mine, and it has nothing to do with it. Therefore, in order to be able to better coordinate with the main landing ship regiment, the domestically produced 726-type "Mustang" air cushion landing craft came into being.
It is worth mentioning that for the domestic "Mustang", a considerable number of people will confuse it with the European "Bison", but in fact, the 726 type is more similar to the US military LCAC. In addition, from the perspective of body size, the "Mustang" is significantly smaller and can be directly filled into the belly of the 071 and 075 amphibious landing ships, while the European "Bison" can only appear in the form of semi-submersible ships, which is obvious. However, there is one thing to say, even if the 726-type "Mustang" developed by China is compared with the European "bison", it is not lost.
According to the relevant information, the displacement of the 726 air cushion landing craft is about 150 to 160 tons, the maximum load capacity is about 50 tons to 60 tons, and its maximum speed can reach 60 to 80 knots. Obviously, from the paper data, although the 726 type does not have an advantage in terms of size, it is comparable in speed, and even if it is "soaring" at sea, it is not too much.
It is worth noting that in addition to speed, the Type 726 air cushion landing ship can also carry heavy armor equipment, generally can carry a 96A main battle tank or two amphibious infantry fighting vehicles and 80 marines, and the accuracy landing error is less than 20 meters. Although the European "Bison" can take 3 96A main battle tanks at a time, the Type 071 amphibious landing ship dock can park 4 Type 726 ships. In this way, when the Type 726 carried out the task of grabbing the beach and landing, its combat capability was no less than that of the European "bison".
By the way, because the Type 726 air cushion landing craft can sail for 320 kilometers at a speed of 80 knots per hour, and this distance is just the width between the two sides of the strait, it is also known as the "Wutong Happy Boat". There is a saying that the previous 726 air cushion landing ship was not mass-produced because of engine problems, but with the replacement of the domestic QC-70 gas turbine, this mass production may have been put on the agenda.
But then again, since the European "bison" has been introduced, our army will not let it be shelved, but will coordinate it with the domestically produced Type 726 to jointly strengthen our army's ability to grab the beach and provide a powerful amphibious equipment force for resolutely defending China's territory.