China’s first Type 075 amphibious assault ship, or landing helicopter dock (LHD), the Hainan, has been equipped with a large unmanned shipboard helicopter drone, thought to be similar to the PLA’s Z-11 UAV, which weighs roughly 2 tons and is similar to the U.S. Army’s Fire Scout MQ-8B (1.4 tons) and MQ-8C (2.7 tons), according to a recent report on China’s official military video website China Military View.
This large unmanned helicopter drone is said to be an indispensable piece of equipment for future battlefield operations such as intelligence gathering, surveillance, reconnaissance, target tracking, battle damage assessment, communications relay, electronic warfare and armed attack at low and ultra-low altitudes over the sea.
The shipboard helicopter drone is not only capable of enhancing the situational awareness capabilities of China’s Type 075 amphibious assault ships, but its future variants could further perform anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare missions.
In addition, recent pictures show that the Type 075 amphibious assault ship Hainan is equipped with multiple Z-18 shipboard helicopters – a variant of Z-8 helicopter, one of the photos is suspected to leak the ship has been equipped with Z-20 shipboard helicopters, although it is impossible to confirm whether it’s the anti-submarine type, transport type, or attack type.