Chinese company Zhongtian Feilong recently concluded tests of a new unmanned aerial mother ship that can carry multiple smaller drones and release them in the air for missions like reconnaissance and attack.
In a statement last week, the company said that the “airborne aircraft carrier” made a test flight on March 20. Just like a maritime aircraft carrier housing different types of aircraft such as fighters and early warning aircraft, this new system can carry multiple types of drones to serve different purposes.
During the test, a mother ship, which seems to be a fixed wing, vertical takeoff and landing-capable drone, carried nine smaller drones under its belly. The mother ship opened the aircraft bay after arriving at a designated mission point and dropped the smaller drones in order, while also ensuring the speed, direction, attitude and distance of dropping could match the requirement so the smaller drones could form a swarm.
It is not known whether the system is capable of retrieving drones in the air.
The system is characterized by its long range, strong anti-jamming capability, multiple types of payloads, accurate guidance links and low logistics support requirements, the company said, noting that it is flexible, safe, highly efficient, independent and easy to operate even under complicated environments for different types of combat missions like reconnaissance, early warning, jamming, attack and evaluation.
This system’s western analogue is the US based Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie drone.