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By Micah McCartney
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China's new drone "mothership" is set to take flight, according to the country's state broadcaster, which touted the aircraft as a game changer in drone warfare.
Observers, however, have noted key vulnerabilities and said the behemoth, teased at China's flagship air show in November, amounts to "propaganda."
Why It Matters
The People's Liberation Army continues its rapid buildup, with an eye to supplanting the U.S. as the leading military power in the Asia-Pacific. Its warship count now exceeds the U.S. Navy's, and it possesses growing anti-access/area-denial capabilities, such as its vast missile fleet.
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China has also been investing heavily in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and swarm technologies in a bid to achieve air superiority in a wartime scenario—for instance, an invasion of Beijing-claimed Taiwan.
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What To Know
Built by the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China, the Jiu Tian drone has a wingspan of 82 feet and runs on a turbofan engine, China Central Television said in a Saturday broadcast.
It has a maximum range of 4,350 miles and a 15-kilometer (9.3 miles) ceiling, and it can exceed 435 miles per hour.
What sets the aircraft apart is its ability to launch smaller drones mid-flight from both sides of its fuselage.
With a maximum payload of six tons, it can carry up to 100 small UAVs, including loitering drones—shown in a computer-animated promotional video pouring out of the plane like bees from a hive.
In addition to swarm-launching, the drone can be armed with a mix of air-to-air, anti-ship and air-to-ground missiles, as well as 1,000-kilogram (about 2,200-pound) guided bombs.
The Jiu Tian is also built for modularity. Its payloads can be swapped out in under two hours, depending on the mission—electronic warfare, strike and support, emergency rescue—making it suitable for a range of civilian and military roles.
It can also serve as a communications relay for the smaller drones it launches, potentially allowing them to operate well beyond their typical limits.
Still, the drone carrier's size presents a tempting target for modern air defense systems, meaning it would likely need to rely on air suppression support.
Additionally, even at its stated maximum altitude, the drone would be well within the range of several modern air-defense systems, including the U.S.'s THAAD and Patriot PAC-3, Taiwan's Sky Bow III, Japan's Aegis BMD, and South Korea's KM-SAM Block II.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense told Newsweek the Pentagon is aware of the Jiu Tian but declined to comment further.
What People Have Said
Tom Shugart, founder of Archer Strategic Consulting and adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security's Defense Program, told Newsweek: "I certainly think it's an interesting concept, but given that the "mothership" drone doesn't appear to be particularly stealthy—with micro-drones that seem likely to have a fairly short range—I imagine in a high-end fight it could be subject to destruction by enemy aircraft or air defenses before it got close enough to release those drones. Definitely worth keeping an eye on its development, though."
User @MCCCANM, a self-described former U.S. Air Force instructor with 30,000 followers, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "I'm not a fighter pilot, but this is like trying to sneak into near-peer enemy airspace with a formation of KC-10s [retired tanker and cargo aircraft]. It's not remotely survivable...a gigantic missile magnet. This is just classic propaganda."
What Happens Next
The "mothership" will conduct its first test flight at the end of June, CCTV reported.
Update 5/20/25, 12:57 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Tom Shugart and a response from the U.S. Department of Defense.
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