What ship did China use to test a drone helicopter at sea?

China has put another shipborne uncrewed helicopter through its paces at sea, but the ship used for the tests has drawn more attention than the new aircraft.\nA report on state broadcaster CCTV last week showed the drone helicopter – an AR-500CJ developed by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China – taking off, hovering over and landing on a ship’s flight deck at sea. An operator was shown controlling the aircraft in front of a short structure on the deck.\nBut the ship was not identified or clearly visible in the footage, prompting speculation over which vessel it might have been.\nAccording to official tabloid Global Times the ship was the “civilian aircraft carrier” CSSC Exploration 01 built in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.\nHowever, US military website The War Zone claimed it was more likely to be the “mysterious drone carrier” seen in satellite images at a shipyard in Jiangsu province last year.\n\nThe vessel identified by Global Times is a 200-metre-long (656ft) ship built by Comec, a commercial unit of China State Shipbuilding Corporation.\nIt has a flat flight deck and a unique triple island configuration, and was seen undergoing a sea trial in December soon after it was launched. There has been speculation over its purpose since then, but no official confirmation.\nThe ship has deck markings that are typically seen on amphibious assault vessels used for rotary-wing aircraft. But its estimated displacement of 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes is larger than many amphibious assault ships.\nHowever, the ship – described as an “offshore floating test platform” in a tender document for the project that began in 2019 – is believed to be a civilian platform because its design is simpler and cheaper than a military aircraft carrier or amphibious assault ship.\nIn addition, it does not appear to use the catapults or arresting cables needed for heavier fixed-wing aircraft.\nMilitary analysts have also noted it could be used to test carrier-based drones.\nGlobal Times did not explain why it had identified the vessel as the one in last Thursday’s CCTV report.\nHowever, the vessel seen in the footage has a short structure behind the operator that does not appear to match any of the three island structures on the CSSC Exploration 01.\nThe War Zone also noted that the flight deck of the CSSC Exploration 01 was significantly larger, a different shape and its markings were also different from the ship in the footage.\nIt suggested instead that a ship seen in images taken of Jiangsu Dayang Marine shipyard on the Yangtze River in May 2024 was more likely the one used to test the helicopter.\nThe report said the trapezoidal section on the starboard side of the vessel towards the stern, as well as its markings, matched the ship in the CCTV footage.\nMilitary analysts believe that vessel – which is about 100 metres long and 25 metres wide – is a dedicated drone carrier that could also be used for research and development.\nBut there is an inconsistency between the vessel in the CCTV footage and the Jiangsu ship. The footage suggests that if the operator is facing the open deck towards the stern, the structure behind them would be located near the port side. But on the “drone carrier” in Jiangsu, the island sits on the starboard side towards the bow, and there is no comparable structure on the port side.\nThe vessel used to test the AR-500CJ helicopter could be another ship again given China’s rapidly growing fleet of advanced maritime drone platforms – both dual-use and civilian variants – and its massive shipbuilding capacity.\n\nAccording to the CCTV report, the AR-500CJ helicopter completed autonomous take-off and landing tests on a moving platform on land that simulated a ship’s motion before it was tested on the vessel at sea.\nThe helicopter’s modular design allows it to be adapted to suit the mission – anything from reconnaissance to aerial imaging and search and rescue, according to Avic. The developer said the aircraft could also take a role in communications or as an aerial information node that could be integrated into a wider network of drones as well as crewed aircraft and vessels.\n