Future of Surface Warfare: China’s New Semi-Submersible Unmanned Missile Carrier Breaks Cover

The first images of China’s new semi-submersible unmanned missile carrying trimaran warship has surfaced on local social media, showing a profile view of the vessel in the water in what appears to be the Huangpu shipyard in Guangzhou. The warship program is being developed with a particularly high degree of secrecy, with prior images showing much of its structure concealed under tarpaulins. From what is visible of the design, it appears to have been intended to be capable high speeds, with an ability to submerge to confuse radar tracking and evade missile attacks. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy has long ben expected to make greater use of unmanned missile carrying warships to provide support for its fast growing destroyer fleet, which has increasingly led the world in its capabilities. 

The utility of unmanned missile carrying ships was highlighted in February, when a simulated engagement organised by the China Ship Development and Design Centre (CSDDC) and Huazhong University of Science and Technology demonstrated how support from just two such vessels could enable a single Type 055 class destroyer to defeat eight U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke class destroyers in an engagement. The engagement saw large numbers of drones and unmanned boats launched from the unmanned ships and directed from the commanding Type 055 destroyer, with the unmanned ships in forming a low cost “kill web” alongside the destroyer. The publication of its results followed the publication of a paper on the utility of such vessels on January 13 by AI expert Professor Yu Minghui, who led the project team that worked on the simulation, in the Chinese Journal of Ship Research.