China may be preparing the world's first submarine-drone carrier

China appears to be building what could be the world's first large surface vessel designed to carry, launch and recover uncrewed submarines. The unnamed hull is at Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai, and Beijing has not formally acknowledged it, so its capabilities and operator remain unknown.

Open-source analyst KAROTASU estimated that the hull was being assembled in a 340m-class dock, or about 1,115ft. That dock is not the ship: estimates put the hull at roughly 200m by 30m, while Defence Security Asia used imagery dated September 15 to assess it at about 205m by 27m, or roughly 672ft.

The vessel would be smaller than the 872-to-888ft Essex-class carriers used by the US Navy during the Pacific campaign from 1943, but larger than the Independence-class light carriers. Its apparent purpose is to deploy extra-extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicles, or XXLUUVs. These craft are estimated at 35m and 45m, or 115ft and 148ft, and could have a range of 10,000 nautical miles based on a similarly sized concept exhibited by a Chinese shipbuilder.

Such a carrier could extend operations beyond the floating docks currently used for testing by providing an enclosed hangar for launch, recovery and maintenance. The vessel's existence and intended military role remain unconfirmed.