China Aviation Industry Group released a CG simulation of the GJ-11 stealth drone (Gongji-11) at the Zhuhai Airshow, and it’s believed that the drone can take off from Type 076 landing helicopter dock to strike at aircraft carriers and other ships, and can also cooperate with J-35 and other naval aircraft in combat.
The ship carrying the GJ-11 drone in the simulation has a full straight-through deck, obviously not the Liaoning or Shandong carriers, and the deck appearance is also different from the current Type 075 amphibious assault ship. Therefore, it is likely to be the highly regarded Chinese domestic Type 076 amphibious assault ship, which was previously thought by many analysts to have a large outboard elevator for carrying large unmanned aircraft.
Compared to the Type 075, the Type 076 amphibious assault ship will certainly be larger in length, volume and tonnage, and may reach 50,000 to 60,000 tons of full load displacement, potentially becoming the world’s largest amphibious assault ship in terms of displacement, increasing the length and volume of space will allow it to carry more carrier-based aircraft, and make it safer to land and take off the ship’s fixed-wing unmanned assault drones.
The main improvement of the Type 076 amphibious assault ship over the Type 075 is the substantial increase in air attack capability, i.e., carrying a large number of stealthy fixed-wing unmanned assault aircraft such as the GJ-11 drone.
To this end, the Type 076 amphibious assault ship is purposely equipped with electromagnetic catapults and electromagnetic blocking systems to enable safe takeoff and landing of unmanned assault drones, which is an alternative solution for the Chinese Navy to address the lack of vertical takeoff and landing fighters like AV-8B Harrier II and F-35B.
It was reported that the U.S. Congress recently published an analysis of China’s naval modernization, which explicitly mentions the Type 076 amphibious assault ship, with concept drawings that show various carrier-based aircraft for the 076, including the Z-20 helicopter and a stealthy drone that looks like the GJ-11 UAV.
The GJ-11 UAV is 12.2 meters long, with a wingspan of 14.4 meters and a height of 2.7 meters, and has a maximum takeoff weight of over 10 tons, a combat radius of over 1,500 kilometers, and an endurance of six hours.
One of the reasons why the GJ-11 drone stood together with the three members of the “20 family” at the Zhuhai Airshow is that it can be a loyal wingman of the J-20, with one J-20 controlling multiple GJ-11s, each carrying 8 missiles.
In addition, several propaganda videos of China have been made explicit or hinted that the GJ-11 stealth drone can also be converted into shipboard aircraft with foldable wings.