China is secretly building the world's first aircraft carrier for drones (satellite photo)

A Chinese shipyard on the Yangtze River, far from the main shipyards in Shanghai, has witnessed the birth of a new aircraft carrier. This is the fourth ship of this class in China, the existence of which has been hidden from the general public. Only China can build such an aircraft carrier in relative secrecy, Naval News reports. The gg editorial team provides the main information about the new Chinese aircraft carrier.

A mysterious aircraft carrier for drones

The world is well aware of China's first three aircraft carriers, with the largest and most efficient of them, the Fujian Type 003, currently undergoing sea trials. However, this new ship is quite different from them: it has a catamaran hull and a low flight deck, which means limited flight capabilities. But it's not its size that makes it interesting, it's its purpose: it's the world's first aircraft carrier designed for drones.

The design is smaller than conventional aircraft carriers, with a deck about a third as long and half as wide as the supercarriers of the US or Chinese navies. By comparison, it is slightly shorter but wider than the escort aircraft carriers of World War II. It could operate fixed-wing aircraft, but its straight deck design would be anachronistic, preventing aircraft from taking off and landing simultaneously. In addition, there is no known traditional aircraft hangar, so the number of aircraft would be significantly limited. However, it makes sense as a drone carrier.

Analysis of the ship

At first glance, it is obvious that it is some type of aircraft carrier. It has a pronounced runway on the port side and an island superstructure on the starboard side. The hull is a widely spaced catamaran. Although catamarans often feature in aircraft carrier concepts because they have a large deck area, no one has actually built one before. In addition, analysis of satellite images shows that the cockpit is very low. It is unlikely that there is a hangar under the flight deck. And if there is, it has a very low ceiling. Therefore, it does not seem to be designed to support long flights or high tempo military operations.

The cockpit is wide enough to comfortably fly aircraft or drones with a wingspan of about 20 metres (65 feet), such as the Chinese equivalent of the US Predator drone. However, the mere presence of a runway indicates that aircraft intend to land on it. A catapult or launch rail of some form would be sufficient to launch a UAV.

Potential scenarios for the use of the aircraft carrier

In its weapons testing programme, China has an extensive programme to simulate Western and Western naval vessels. Its anti-ship ballistic missiles are being tested on full-size contours of US Navy aircraft carriers. The Jiangsu Dayang Marine shipyard, where the ship is being built, has previously built simulated target ships for potential military adversaries. This shipyard has already built several high-tech target barges and two large drone carriers. All of them act as opposing forces during military exercises. This role is known as the "Electronic Blue Force". Therefore, it is possible that this ship is also designed to support this mission and be used as an enemy ship.

If the new ship is designed to support large fixed wing UAVs at sea, as its design suggests, then the question arises as to who or what it will be simulating. As noted, this is the world's first maritime drone carrier, so it cannot imitate any known Western ship. The second hypothesis is that it is some type of experimental platform that will test and develop drone operations at sea.