Xinhua reported that China’s first carrier-based stealth reconnaissance-strike drone, the Attack-21, has successfully taken off from and landed on the amphibious assault ship Sichuan for the first time. The milestone shows the PLA Navy can now operate fixed-wing stealth drones from a large sea-going platform, and arguably shifts the Sichuan’s role from a pure amphibious assault ship toward a drone carrier, a concept that has matured over decades.
The idea dates to the Vietnam War, when the U.S. Navy launched modified Firebee reconnaissance drones from the carrier Ranger using rocket boosters. The cumbersome process disrupted normal flight operations and was dropped. The U.S. later developed the X-47B stealth drone, which completed carrier launches and landings in 2013, and the MQ-25 Stingray tanker drone is now in small-batch production.
Turkey’s Anadolu became the first drone carrier almost by accident. After the United States removed Turkey from the F-35 program over its S-400 purchase, Ankara converted the ship to carry domestically built drones. Iran followed with converted merchant vessels, including the 42,000-ton Shahid Bagheri, which U.S. forces sank on March 5 of this year. Indonesia is expected to be next, having commissioned the Sriwijaya, a donated former Italian light carrier, on September 24, 2026, and it is negotiating with Turkey for drones.
There are three future models: conventional carriers with a few supporting drones, drone-centered carriers like the Sichuan, and fully unmanned carriers such as Hyundai Heavy Industries’ proposed HCX-23 Plus. It is suggested that a combination of drones and unmanned carrier ships may come to dominate naval warfare.
Source: The Paper, November 6, 2026
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_34413980