As a military power that once kept pace with the United States, the Soviet Union built a powerful military combat system in the second half of the last century, developed and deployed a series of advanced weapons and equipment, many of which are still regarded as treasures by Russia and other member countries. . Let us get to know a special piece of maritime equipment, which is the European Bison-class hovercraft .
In order to cope with the projection of short-distance combat power at sea, the Soviets developed the European Bison-class hovercraft, which was designed to implement tactical applications in beach landing operations. As the world's largest air-cushion landing ship, the European Bison-class is 57 meters long and 25.6 meters wide respectively. It can meet the transportation needs of 150 tons of weapons and equipment, and the fastest speed can reach 60 knots. When actually participating in combat, the European Bison-class hovercraft can only implement short-distance troop projection because its combat radius is less than 300 kilometers. If a large number of weapons are carried, its effective range will be further suppressed.
If calculated based on cruising speed, the hovercraft can cross the Taiwan Strait in 1.5 hours. But from a practical point of view, the European Bison class has to face a huge practical difficulty, that is, it cannot adapt to the complex sea conditions and climate in nearby sea areas such as the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, and it is prone to accidents.
It is understood that the reason why the Soviets wanted to develop this hovercraft was mainly based on the need for landing operations in shallow sea areas such as the Caspian Sea and the Baltic Sea. Therefore, the actual design of the Bison class did not take into account factors such as the navigation conditions of the responsible sea areas. Generally speaking, the Bison class can only adapt to sea conditions with wave heights below 1 meter. Once the wave height reaches 1.5 meters, its speed will drop to 38 knots or even lower. If the wave height rises further, the hovercraft is likely to be in a dangerous situation of serious stalling.
Judging from the long-term monitoring and analysis of sea conditions in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea by the my country Oceanic Administration, there will be 220 days in a year with wave heights below 2 meters, and large waves above 3 meters will occur in the remaining days, and even 6 meters will occur during this period. Meter or even a maximum of 10 meters of wild waves. Therefore, if the Bison-class hovercraft is driven to the coast of my country for operation, there will be obvious acclimatization. It can only be handled with difficulty within half a year, but it will not be used at all within more than 100 days.
Of course, this only considers factors such as climate. If other defects such as lack of cost performance and unfavorable logistics and maintenance are included, the appeal of the Bison-class hovercraft is further amplified. Based on this, the Chinese navy stopped "cold" after purchasing four ships, and instead developed the LCAC hovercraft based on actual conditions. Nowadays, this hovercraft is even less popular with our navy, which also confirms the enhancement of our country's military capabilities from one aspect.
