Images show ship with flight deck that can carry drones and helicopters, but it is not clear whether it is for civilian or military use
Hayley Wongin Beijing
Published: 7:00pm, 3 Dec 2024
China has tested a mysterious, carrier-like vessel featuring a large flight deck that is likely to be used for drones and crewed helicopters, according to photos and videos circulating on social media.
While the ship’s size and configurations are similar to the Chinese naval Type 075 landing helicopter dock, its light aircraft carrier design with three, instead of two, protruding island-like structures has made it a first of its kind.
The ship, measuring some 200 metres (656 feet) long, is believed to be docked at a facility owned by shipbuilding company Comec on Longxue Island in the southern city of Guangzhou. US military news site The War Zone, which was the first to report on the vessel, said it was probably a civilian research ship capable of supporting naval missions.
Comec, formerly Guangzhou Shipyard International Company, is a subsidiary under the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) focused on commercial vessels.
According to The War Zone, the ship seems to have been launched between September 10 and October 9.
A video circulating on social media last week showed the vessel appeared to be sailing under its own power as little as two months after its launch, suggesting it was built very quickly.
The ship was spotted next to China’s large unmanned combat vessel JARI-USV-A, known as Orca, in October.
More photos circulating on American and Chinese platforms offered a closer look at the ship, showing two sets of markings on the vessel’s open flight deck. This type of flight deck is typically used for rotary-wing aircraft, either crewed or uncrewed.
But there were no clear signs – such as military-style markings or a hull number – that it was a military ship. There were also no signs of catapults or arrester cables that would be used for heavier fixed-wing aircraft, The War Zone reported on Tuesday.
The ship has a distinctive arrangement with three island-like structures along the starboard side of the flight deck. The multi-storey middle island appeared to be larger and taller than the other two.
“The superstructure nearest the bow includes a bridge and conventional-type mast, while the larger central one has a rear-facing glazed tower area for managing flight operations, plus a prominent mast, although the spherical radome seen on top in previously published images is missing here,” the report said.
“Finally, the structure closest to the stern houses the ship’s exhaust stacks.”
Open-source images collected by The War Zone suggest that the vessel has a simpler and cheaper design than military carriers or multifunctional amphibious assault ships and is more likely to be a private venture by CSSC than a project of the Chinese navy.
However, the line between China’s civilian and military vessels and technology is not always clear, and the facility where the ship is believed to be docked has hosted both civilian and military vessels, further muddying the picture of what the new ship will be used for.
The new vessel will add to China’s expanding range of domestically developed light and amphibious carrier vessels as the country builds up its maritime capabilities.
China has expanded its civilian research fleet and now has 64 vessels in use, according to a recent report by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank.