China's New Giant Submarine Drone Mothership
Satellite images show a vessel with a stern well-deck and cradle that could carry four XXLUUVs, Naval News reported.
- On Tuesday, Naval News reported that China is constructing a specialized mothership at the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai, designed to deploy full-sized uncrewed underwater vehicles.
- China remains the only nation building full-size autonomous submarines, referred to as XXLUUVs; two models measuring 35 to 45 meters long are undergoing testing in Hainan.
- The new vessel resembles an amphibious landing ship featuring a stern well-deck, where a cradle lowered on 12 vertical jack-up arms deploys drones from an internal hangar housing up to four submersibles.
- According to an April 2025 China Aerospace Studies Institute report, researchers John Chen and Emilie Stewart note that Chinese theorists envision 'mothership warfare' to coordinate dispersed uncrewed clusters into a distributed lethal network.
- In the 2025 book America's Strategic Edge, author Lami Kim describes these autonomous assets as operational tools for 'Systems Destruction Warfare,' a doctrine seeking to paralyze an opponent's architecture rather than win through attrition.
12 Articles
12 Articles
China Builds World’s First Mothership to Deploy Giant Submarine Drones
China is accelerating its naval modernization with the construction of what appears to be the world’s first mothership designed to deploy full-sized uncrewed submarines, Naval News reported on September 15.
Ukraine's demonstration of naval drone capabilities, which helped push Russia's Black Sea Fleet out of Crimea, has not gone unnoticed. China is currently building what is likely to be the world's first "drone carrier" designed to deploy underwater drones, Naval News reports.
China is building the world's first ship to carry large underwater drones for its navy
China's defense industry is once again surprising us with breakthrough developments unmatched by any other country. Naval News, an online publication specializing in naval affairs, reports that the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding shipyard in Shanghai...
The Chinese defense industry is once again surprising with breakthrough developments that are not being implemented in any other country. Naval News, an online publication specializing in naval topics, reports that Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in Shanghai is probably building what is likely the world's first
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