The huge aircraft was presented at the Zhuhai Air Show – in China.
Ahead of the Zhuhai Air Show in China, an international aerospace trade show organized by the Beijing administration, a drone mothership concept has been spotted at the event’s grounds.
The drone mothership, which is said to have a maximum takeoff weight of 10 tons, could have the capability to launch drone swarms in the air.
The drone, Called Jiu Tian, which stands for ‘High Sky’ in Chinese, is powered by jet engines. Its design is by the government-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).
Drone mothership concept’s specifications
The markings on the drone mothership read SS-UAV, along with others in Chinese script. While clearly the UAV stands for unmanned aerial vehicle, it is unclear what SS stands for.
A look at the aircraft reveals that it uses a normal tricycle landing and take-off gear, and carries a jet engine on top of its central fuselage.
While initially it can look like a normal attack aircraft, its central payload section is labeled as ‘Isomerism Hive Module’. This reveals that the mothership could have the capability to launch drones mid-air and then manage swarms to carry out operations.
The ability to launch multiple drones mid-air and then use the mothership as a command center is a dream project of China and several other countries.
The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has proven how effective drones can be in tilting the balance to one side.
It should be noted that the ability to launch and retrieve drones mid-air can extend the range of operations for any army. It can give drones a much-needed additional range to carry out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), electronic warfare.
The lethality of kamikaze drones can also increase to a great extent with them being deployed from a vessel which is already airborne.
Therefore, while more specifications about the Chinese mothership drone are yet to emerge, it would quite likely boost the People’s Liberation Army’s capabilities to a great extent.
