Missile swarm: China launches massive drone mothership

The enormous Jiu Tian plane, set to be launched in June, is designed to be capable of releasing a swarm of 100 attack drones and missiles at the same time.

China is set to launch an enormous aerial mothership capable of deploying more than 100 drones and missiles at the same time.

China is set to launch an enormous aerial mothership capable of deploying more than 100 drones and missiles at the same time.

China unveiled images of the Jiu Tian SS-UAV at the weekend, with the massive plane revealed to be a “drone mothership” with the wingspan of nearly 30 metres that’s capable of transporting 100 UAVs or about 2,200 pounds of missiles at a cruising altitude of around 14km in the sky.

The Jiu Tian — or “High Sky” — was previously teased as a super-high altitude, long range unmanned UAV during China’s Zhuhai air show in November. The plane is expected to take off for its first mission at the end of June, according to Chinese media.

Earlier this year, Beijing tested the TP1000, the first unmanned transport aircraft capable of carrying more than a ton of goods, The Telegraph UK reports.

The country has also previously operated long-endurance drones, such as the WZ-7 drone and the TB-001 Scorpion drone, around contested islands in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

The Telegraph reports that experts believe the Jiu Tian will be a probable competitor to two American carriers, the RQ-4 Global Hawk and the MQ-9 Reaper.

However, while the plane would be capable of flying above many of the medium-range defence systems deployed around the globe, online critics were quick to point out that it stands virtually no chance against more advanced defence systems seen in the US, Europe and other parts of Asia.

“I’m not a fighter pilot, but this is like trying to sneak into near-peer enemy airspace w/ a formation of KC-10s,” a retired US Air Force pilot wrote on X upon seeing the model for the Jiu Tian.

The aircraft was teased at the military’s airshow in Zhuhai in November. Picture: Getty Images.

The launch of the Jiu Tian is the latest display of China’s increasing military capabilities. In March, pictures circulated on Chinese social media revealed a new class of landing barge, which military analysts said Beijing designed for use in a potential invasion of Taiwan. The pictures and video showed a fleet of special flat-bottomed barges, called the Shuqiao class, which appear to have been designed for an amphibious landing on the island – which some have compared with the boats involved in the D-Day landings in Normandy of WWII.

Satellite imagery had previously identified the unusual vessels being constructed in a shipyard in Guangzhou, the province’s capital.

The Jiu Tian is allegedly capable of carrying around 100 drones that can be deployed at cruising altitude.

The Jiu Tian is also another example of the increasingly widespread use of drones for warfare.

They are already widely used in the Ukraine war and were also deployed in the India-Pakistan conflict in Kahsmir, with Pakistan using drones manufactured by China.

While India used exploding drones Harop and Harpy, as well as reconnaissance drone Heron manufactured by Israel, Islamabad was also armed with Chinese combat and reconnaissance drones – CH-3 and CH-4, Wing Loong, according to specialist site Military Balance

At the start of the conflict, China urged restraint from both sides and promised to play a “constructive role”.

But experts say Beijing has clearly picked a side. China said it considered Pakistan an “iron-clad friend” and that it “understands Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns”, said Chietigj Bajpaee from think tank Chatham House.

Bajpaee also said that “over 80 per cent of Pakistan’s arms imports over the last five years have come from China”.

With NY Post, AP