China's GJ-21 stealth drone makes first take-off and landing on amphibious assault ship Sichuan
China's GJ-21 stealth reconnaissance and strike drone has completed its first take-off and landing on the Sichuan, the country's first Type 076 amphibious assault ship, in what state media called a breakthrough for operating fixed-wing stealth drones from large naval platforms.
China's first carrier-based stealth reconnaissance and strike drone, the GJ-21, has completed its first take-off and landing on the Sichuan, the country's first Type 076 amphibious assault ship, state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday.
Xinhua hailed the trial as a breakthrough in China's amphibious assault ship programme, saying it demonstrates the navy's ability to operate fixed-wing stealth drones from large naval platforms, a capability previously associated mainly with aircraft carriers.
The Sichuan is the lead vessel of the Type 076 class, launched in December 2024. It has a full-load displacement of more than 40,000 tonnes, a full-length flight deck and a twin-island superstructure, and is fitted with electromagnetic catapult and arresting gear. It can carry fixed-wing drones, helicopters and amphibious equipment.
State television CCTV said on Friday that the indigenously developed vessel had conducted consecutive sea trials in late October, without disclosing where the trials took place. The navy said in April that the Sichuan had sailed to waters in the South China Sea for scientific testing and training, describing that deployment as routine and not aimed at any specific target.
The GJ-21 itself was first shown in public at a military parade in Beijing last year marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, when China displayed a range of new weapons. Friday's announcement is the first confirmation that it has operated from a ship at sea.
Military expert Zhang Xuefeng, quoted by the state tabloid Global Times, said the GJ-21 has a substantial combat radius despite having a smaller airframe than China's stealth fighters, the J-35 and the J-20, a combination that would give it reach while keeping it harder to detect.
The trial fits a decades-long modernisation drive in which China has built advanced warships, fighter jets and missiles and, increasingly, capable unmanned systems. Amphibious assault ships like the Sichuan sit between traditional landing ships and aircraft carriers, and adding stealth drones to them extends the range of missions they can support.
Neither Xinhua nor CCTV gave the exact date or location of the take-off and landing, and no foreign navy has publicly commented on the trial. Independent verification of the details is therefore limited to the Chinese state accounts and the footage and photographs they released.
Neighbouring navies will nevertheless be watching closely. The ability to launch and recover stealth drones from amphibious ships could change calculations around the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, where China, the United States and regional states already operate in close proximity.
What comes next is likely to be further trials: integrating the GJ-21 into routine operations aboard the Sichuan, possibly alongside helicopters and amphibious equipment, and eventually deploying it with a naval task group. Whether the drone appears in future exercises, or on further Type 076 ships as they enter service, will show how quickly this first landing becomes a regular capability.
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