China's GJ-21 stealth drone has completed its first takeoff and landing on board the Sichuan, the country's first Type 076 amphibious assault ship, state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday, in a trial Reuters said underscores Beijing's push to integrate drone technology into its military modernisation drive.

Source: Reuters

Xinhua hailed the test as “a breakthrough in China's amphibious assault ship programme” and said it signifies the Chinese navy's growing ability to operate fixed-wing stealth drones from large naval platforms. AnewZ, reporting the same state-media announcement, described the GJ-21 as China's first carrier-based stealth reconnaissance and strike drone.

Source: AnewZ

A ship built around drones

The Sichuan, the lead vessel of the Type 076 class, was launched in December 2024 and features electromagnetic catapult and arresting technology. It can carry fixed-wing drones, helicopters and amphibious equipment, has a full-length flight deck and a twin-island superstructure, and displaces more than 40,000 metric tons at full load, Reuters reported.

China Central Television reported on Friday that the indigenously developed vessel had completed a series of sea trials in late October, without disclosing where the trials took place. China's navy said in April that the Sichuan had sailed to waters in the South China Sea for scientific testing and training missions, and said at the time that the deployment was a routine test and did not aim at any specific target.

Why the test matters

The GJ-21 first appeared in public at a military parade in Beijing in 2025, held to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, where China displayed different types of weapons. State tabloid the Global Times reported on Friday that the GJ-21 has a substantial combat radius despite having a smaller airframe than China's stealthy J-35 and J-20 fighters, citing military expert Zhang Xuefeng — a capability claim made by Chinese state media that has not been independently verified.

Operating a stealth strike drone from an amphibious assault ship — a vessel designed to land troops and equipment — would extend the reach of China's unmanned air power well beyond its conventional aircraft carriers, at a time when Beijing's naval activity around Taiwan and in the South China Sea is watched closely by the United States and its allies. No photographs or video of the GJ-21 flights had been publicly released at the time of the announcement, according to defence reporting on the test.