According to official broadcaster CCTV, a new Chinese drone carrier that can launch up to 100 smaller drones simultaneously may go on a test flight in the coming days. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) air force will deploy Jiu Tian, also called Nine Heavens, an autonomous “drone mothership,” to establish the foundation for extending the range of aerial combat.
When Jiu Tian is completely functional, it will unleash enormous drone swarms that will cooperate to overwhelm an adversary’s air defences. A viral video on X provides a visual representation of Jiu Tian’s capabilities, including its capacity to simultaneously launch many drones from both sides of its fuselage.
The UAV’s maximum range is 7,000 km, and the super-high-altitude Jiu Tian can carry up to six tonnes of ordnance and smaller drones.
With unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) becoming more and more important in the contemporary battlefield, Jiu Tian is the newest addition to China’s fast expanding arsenal of cutting-edge drone technology.
According to a South China Morning Post story, the new Chinese “drone mothership” is being viewed as a competitor to well-known US versions such as the MQ-9 Reaper and the RQ-4 Global Hawk. According to the maker, Jiu Tian’s design enables the drone to perform a variety of tasks, including border defence, high-security transportation, and emergency rescue missions.
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