“The configuration appears to form a ground-based launch track with visible details suggesting an electromagnetic propulsion system that could provide a runway-independent launching capability for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).”
“Latest photos emerging on Wednesday showed the trucks, in separate segments, had been loaded onto the deck of the cargo ship Zhong Da 79. The same vessel attracted attention earlier in December when it was spotted carrying containerised vertical missile launchers, radar sensors and self-defence systems.”
“The trucks were positioned for loading at the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai near China’s first Type 076 amphibious assault ship, the Sichuan, which has been berthed after initial sea trials. The Sichuan features an integrated electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) on its flight deck, potentially making it a ‘drone carrier’.”
“If the modular, mobile catapult is indeed part of a broader containerised weapon module initiative, it would suggest that the Chinese military is testing the conversion of flat-decked merchant ships into auxiliary aircraft carriers, according to some observers.”
“If the pictured trucks were loaded and interlocked on the deck of a ship like the Zhong Da 79, high-performance fixed-wing combat drones could theoretically be launched from any of the thousands of container ships in China’s commercial fleets.”