China is readying the world's first giant submarine UAV carrier built with a 1115ft dock, the unnamed mothership could be longer (and bigger) than WW2 light aircraft carriers and carry 148ft underwater drones

Date:
Sat, 19 Sep 2026 19:05:00 +0000

Description:
China appears to be building a 670ft mothership for 148ft robot submarines, and it could change how far its underwater drones can reach.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Satellite imagery shows China building a roughly ~200m ship in Shanghai that analysts say is a mothership for submarine-sized drones It pairs a bottom-opening well-deck and 12-arm cradle with an internal hangar that experts estimate holds four 115- to 148ft XXLUUVs While the ship itself is shorter than an Essex-class carrier, its
dock clocks in at about 1,115ft China appears to be building a type of ship
no navy is publicly known to operate: a large surface vessel designed to carry, launch, and recover uncrewed submarines the size of conventional
crewed boats

The hull was first posted on September 13 2026 by Japanese open-source
analyst KAROTASU and assessed two days later by H I Sutton at Naval News . It currently sits at a dock at the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai, and Beijing has yet to formally acknowledge its existence, so it has no name,
list of capabilities, or the military branch that will eventually operate it. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here: A large dock linked to a much smaller ship KAROTASU's post places the vessel in what he calls a 340m-class dock, which works out to approximately 1,115ft. However, the dock is not the ship. The same post estimates the hull itself at roughly 200m long and 30m wide, and notes that a second, unidentified structure is being assembled in the same dock.

Defence Security Asia, using imagery dated September 15 , puts the hull at about 205m by 27m, which clocks in at roughly 672 ft. This makes the mothership big, but not as big as the largest WWII-era fleet carriers, though larger than the US Navy's Independence-class light carriers from that era.
You may like Ukraine unveils tiny 'aircraft carrier' but for FPV drone will submarine UAV launcher be next? This company wants to stop underwater drones and even submarines with a whole new form of sonar technology China demonstrates drone catapult made up of three trucks that interlock like Lego bricks

For context, an Essex-class carrier, the backbone of the US Navy's Pacific campaign from 1943, measured 872 to 888ft overall and displaced 36,380 long tons at full load. At 656 to 673ft, the Chinese hull comes up roughly 200 to 230ft short.

The primary use case of such a mothership would be to deploy
extra-extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicles (XXLUUVs), which is a
mouthful, and it builds around China's naval ambitions at a time when it
seems certain that any conflict or show of power between the world's two superpowers will involve a maritime component. Are you a pro? Subscribe to
our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

At 35 and 45m (115 and 148ft) , the XXLUUVs are the size of small crewed submarines and have an estimated range of 10,000 nautical miles based on a similarly sized concept that a Chinese shipbuilder has exhibited.

This, at the very least, challenges the current balance of power on multiple naval fronts that were not in play previously: until now, the drones have
been tested from specially built floating docks, which conceal them in port and carry them out to sea for launch.

This works well on paper and for trials, which often use a mix of towing, favorable weather, and predictable shore infrastructure, but it limits range to their maximum operating capabilities and access to spare parts/repair potential, all of which the yet-to-be-named vessel addresses.

All in all, in a world that has conflicts flaring up left, right, and center, the world's largest surface ship is designed around full-size uncrewed submarines, with an enclosed hangar to house and maintain them, which is both a statement and a real threat to the US and its allies on the naval front
from China, which is closing gaps on multiple fronts and taking the lead on others, even as territorial disputes in the South China Sea remain a key issue. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to
get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/china-is-readying-the-worlds-first-giant-submari ne-uav-carrier-built-with-a-1115ft-dock-the-unnamed-mothership-could-be-longer -and-bigger-than-ww2-light-aircraft-carriers-and-carry-148ft-underwater-drones


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)