China launches new warship with drone warfare capability

Beijing: The Chinese navy has launched an amphibious assault ship which will double up as a drone carrier, integrating the battleship with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a Chinese naval official said.

China’s newly launched Type 076 amphibious assault ship will play a key role in boosting uncrewed combat capabilities, a navy commander has said in the first official acknowledgement of the warship’s widely speculated role as a drone carrier.

In an interview aired by state broadcaster CCTV on Sunday, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) naval commander Chi Jianjun said efforts to integrate uncrewed or UAV systems into military training were already underway across the fleet, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Monday.

Chi is commander of the PLA’s large destroyer, the domestically built Type 055 stealth guided-missile destroyer Nanchang.

The warship marked its fifth anniversary in service on Sunday.

In comments underscoring the growing role of drones and attack robots on the battlefield, Chi said: “It’s not just us destroyers. Aircraft carriers, the newly launched Type 076, the earlier Type 075 [amphibious assault ship], and other vessels are and will all be involved. Uncrewed operations are an undeniable trend in modern warfare.” China currently has two aircraft carriers in operation- the Liaoning, a refit of the Soviet-era ship commissioned in 2012 and Shandong, an indigenously built 2nd aircraft carrier commissioned in 2019.

China's third aircraft carrier Fujian, which is larger than the two carriers with a displacement of 80,000, is currently undergoing trials.