Tip Sheets
Cornell drone warfare expert on second sea trial of China’s ‘drone carrier’
December 2, 2025
Media Contact
China’s first-of-its-class “drone carrier,” built to combine large-scale UAV operations with traditional amphibious assault capabilities, appears to have completed a second sea trial — a key step toward deployment amid rising tensions between Beijing and Tokyo over Taiwan.
James Rogers
Director of the Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute
James Rogers is executive director of Cornell University’s Brooks Tech Policy Institute, NATO Country Director for the Full Spectrum Drone Warfare project, and an adviser to the U.N. Security Council on high-tech weapons systems proliferation. He says the rapid progress of the Type 076 highlights the PLA’s intent to project power deeper into the first island chain.
Rogers says:
“A carrier that can repeatedly launch drones through a rapid electromagnetic catapult (potentially including stealth drones) would afford China a greatly enhanced force deployment, force protection, and wider regional surveillance/strike capacity.
“It’s important to note that the Type 076 is still in sea trials, but the expedited development signals China’s direction of travel. It is drone carriers like this that are the future of China's maritime/amphibious deployment and key to sustaining operations across the western Pacific.”
