OMM Newsroom
China said Friday that it had successfully carried out the first takeoff and landing of a stealth drone from a warship equipped with an electromagnetic catapult, Anadolu Agency reported.
The GJ-21, an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of reconnaissance and strike missions, recently completed the tests aboard the Sichuan, the country’s first Type 076 amphibious assault ship, state news agency Xinhua reported.
The aircraft is the Chinese military’s first carrier-based stealth drone with reconnaissance and strike capabilities. The Sichuan was launched in 2024 and was on a sea voyage when the tests took place.
Xinhua said the test marked a further breakthrough in the development of China’s amphibious assault ships and demonstrated the Chinese Navy’s ability to launch and recover fixed-wing stealth drones from large maritime combat platforms.
The domestically built warship is equipped with an automated landing guidance system, an integrated power system, an electromagnetic catapult and arresting gear. It can carry fixed-wing drones, helicopters and amphibious equipment, the report said.
The Sichuan is the first Chinese warship fitted with an electromagnetic catapult.
The GJ-21 is a large, tailless subsonic aircraft powered by a turbofan engine. According to open sources, a launch bar enables the electromagnetic catapult to accelerate the drone, while an arresting hook allows it to be recovered using the ship’s arresting wires.
The drone’s folding wings also make it easier to store and move around the carrier deck.
