‘Drone Mother Ship’: How is China’s new military aircraft

With 25 meters of wingspan, Jiu Tian’s maximum takeoff weight is 16 tons. The aircraft can be used in specific missions for information collection and recognition, attack missions, surveillance and even electronic wars. According to the Australian 9News portal, in addition to drones, the “mother ship” can be armed with AR-AR, anti-navy and air-solo missiles, as well as carrying guided pumps up to a ton.

Jiu Tian will take off for the first time in late June, second newspaper. The initial mission was confirmed by state station CCTV and will be the beginning of a series of tests before the “mother ship” is implemented by the popular liberation army, the main front of the Asian country’s armed forces. The aircraft had initially been presented at the Zhuhai Air Fair in China in November last year.

China has invested in the technology of its unmanned air vehicles. According to South China Morning Post, the number of newly registered UAVs increased 48% in the country alone in the first six months of 2024. During this period, 608 thousand new UAVs were registered, totaling more than 1.87 million equipment.

The country also plans to invest in replacing old vehicles such as trucks, ships and locomotives with new models or vehicles, including UAVs. “To boost the healthy development of the low -altitude economy (non -manned and unmanned civilian air vehicles that operate in the airspace below a thousand meters), we, as regulators, will continue to coordinate the modernization of the traditional aviation industry and innovative developments in the unmanned air vehicle industry,” said CAAC director, Chinese Aviation Company, Song Zhiyong, to SCMP.