China’s New Type 076 Drone Carrier Launches & Recovers Stealth Drone For The First Time

In a major milestone towards bringing its new warship into active service, the Chinese Navy’s drone carrier Type 076 conducted the first launch and recovery of a stealth unmanned aircraft last week.

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) statement which was released last Friday, mentioned about the event whose video or photographs were not made public by the Chinese government.

The statement mentioned that the warship Sichuan, pennant number 51, performed flight tests with the GJ-21 stealth reconnaissance and strike drone.

The PLAN also mentioned that since beginning its initial sea trials last year, Sichuan has carried out multiple such tests along with going through evaluations aimed at testing the normal functioning of onboard systems and equipment.

The 40,000 ton drone carrier was once spotted carrying a mock unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) on its deck in November 2025.

The warship which evolved from Type O75 landing helicopter dock design, boasts specialised infrastructure for unmanned aviation and an island superstructure built for conducting air operations and an electromagnetic catapult system.

As the only ship of its class until now, the Type 076 symbolises China’s entry into drone carrier operations, a kind of warfare that is getting traction across the world. Additionally, the GJ-21 features low-observable intelligence-gathering and strike assets which is valuable for Chinese aviation.

The unmanned drones could assist PLAN Marine Corps units or can be integrated into wider carrier strike group missions, though how China plans to use them remains unclear.

This development reveals just one aspect of China’s effort towards incorporating unmanned aerial systems into its naval fleet. Last year, the defense contractors in the country showed a concept of converting cargo ships into auxiliary combat platforms using containerised systems.

The test was conducted onboard the container ship Zhongda 79 at the same yard where Sichuan was built. The setup included modular air defenses, cruise missiles and an electromagnetic catapult to launch drones.

China has been using reconnaissance drones such as the WZ-6 to conduct regular surveillance operations across the Western Pacific close to Taiwan and Japan and within the contested waters and islands of the South China Sea, that Beijing claims in its entirety, ignoring the claims of its neighbours like the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei etc.

PLA Air Force is working on many Collaborative Combat Aircraft concepts meant to fly with and take direction from twin-seat variants of the J-20 5th-generation stealth fighter.