According to military website Naval News , satellite images of the Jiangsu Dayang shipyard on the Yangtze River, further upstream than major shipyards in Shanghai, show that China has secretly built a ship. Drone airport transports fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
A military UAV in a military parade in Beijing on October 1, 2019.
Naval News said the mysterious ship “was launched in December 2022”.
The ship differs from conventional US and Chinese aircraft carriers, such as its smaller size (about 1/3 the length and half the width of an American or Chinese supercarrier) and the way it operates. “outdated” straight deck layout does not allow aircraft to take off and land at the same time.
The ship can operate fixed-wing aircraft, with enough width to accommodate aircraft or UAVs with a wingspan of about 20 meters.
However, the report said the ship’s low flight deck indicates insufficient space for a hangar underneath to support high-speed or sustained flight operations. This would limit the number of aircraft supported by the ship but is “reasonable” for an aircraft carrier that only carries UAVs.
“Overall, it is clear that this is a type of aircraft carrier. It has a marked runway running along the left side with an island superstructure on the right side,” Naval News said.
“Other than that, it is unusual in every respect. The hull is a wide-spaced catamaran. Although catamarans often appear in aircraft carrier concepts because of the deck area they allow large but no country has ever actually built one before,” the report added.
Navies around the world are conducting trials of operating UAVs from conventional aircraft carriers as UAVs have become an essential part of modern warfare, being used regularly in the ongoing fighting in Ukraine. and the Middle East.
Naval News said the reason China added the world’s first UAV transport aircraft carrier to its naval fleet “remains a mystery”.
It is possible that the ship will become part of an opposition training force, or “Green Electronic Force”, as several high-tech target barges and two large unmanned motherships have been stationed at same shipyard.
J. Michael Dahm, a senior fellow at the Mitchell Institute (USA), pointed out that the Jiangsu Dayang shipyard previously built simulated enemy ships for the Chinese navy.
“China has a large system for simulating Western and Western-leaning countries’ naval vessels in its weapons testing program, and its anti-ship ballistic missiles,” Mr. Dahm said. This has been tested on life-size models of US Navy aircraft carriers.
But as the first UAV carrier, this ship cannot imitate any known Western vessel.
Naval News believes that “the second possibility is that the ship is a type of experimental platform used to test and develop UAV operations at sea”.
Some countries, such as Iran and Türkiye, are also reportedly planning to build aircraft carriers specifically designated to carry UAVs.
According to the arms transfer database of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), China leads the world military UAV market, exporting more than 280 combat UAVs over the past decade, especially to Middle East and South Asia.
Graphic image of the Chinese Navy’s Type 076 aircraft carrier.
The Chinese Navy’s newest aircraft carrier is the Fujian, after the Liaoning and Shandong.
Launched in 2022, Fujian is China’s first super aircraft carrier equipped with electromagnetic catapults. Chinese media reported that eight days of sea trials earlier this month, including tests of electrical and energy systems, achieved “expected results”.
Fujian’s electromagnetic catapult system allows aircraft to launch more frequently and also carry more fuel and ammunition.
Video from Fujian’s first sea trial also shows another giant warship under construction – believed to be the Type 076 amphibious assault ship announced for construction in mid-2020.
The Type 076 will have an electromagnetic launcher, an integrated electric propulsion system and a fixed-wing aircraft carrier. Photos circulating online last September showed it under construction at the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai, near Jiangnan.
