Those CCAs have nothing to do with the Type 076. They are used to verify launch operations from container ships.
Chinese UCAV/CCA/flying wing drones (ISR, A2A, A2G)
- Thread starter VESSEL
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When discussing this last night in CHH, Shilao likened this setup to merchant aircraft carrier of WW2 used in the Atlantic. One interesting way to frame it that Shilao used is "think of CCA launched from this thing not as unmanned fighters but instead surface to air cruise missiles". You have that catapult on your ship and a couple of CCA in storage and if you sense you're going to need CAP you launch one.
Of course catapults are by nature versatile, so air superiority CCA doesn't have to be the only craft onboard. You could also use it to launch reconnaissance or even kamikaze drones instead.
They again reiterated the claim that the project's goal is intended for a post-apocalypse world. Shilao painted a story where in a Fallout-isk world, descendants of China might decide Darwin is a good place to have since it's a good harbour and not contaminated with fallout. But upon realising the natives might have a few working F/A-18 left they load the catapult trucks and CCAs onto the container ships. Having said that, Shilao then also repeated Xi Yazhou's point that as wild as the projects goals are, all the less wild uses people are imagining like convoy escort or commerce raiding are of course no less valid.
Finally, they hinted that the relatively small container ship chosen for this should probably be considered to be a "minimum viable product" for this size-wise and larger container ships would make for better conversions.
There was also this humorous conversation between Ayi and Yankee about people (Ayi included) now heading to this park to take photos of the cargo ships, the CCAs and 076:
Ayi "there's no sign at that park saying we can't take photos!"
Yankee "there's no sign at the park saying MSS can't arrest you either."
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... Surely these are for the 076 and not the container ship
"SURELY"
I mean it's pretty obvious this was the goal, not many other reasons to drive them to a shipyard.
I can imagine the project started off as containerized EMAL but alignment requirements forced switch to wheeled vehicle with suspension.
In either case, now that it's confirmed, it would be interesting to think about the strategic implications of China's ability to turn every container ship into an EMAL drone carrier.
Watch for the sled tests, which they will do first, before launching the intended aircraft.
lcloo
Major
A side note. The catapult truck eliminated the worries of some members who said deploying large numbers of drones from airfields would disrupt smooth manned fighter jet taking off, as the drones would take the runway take-off time and taxi slots away from the manned fighter jet.
Depoying hundreds of catapult trucks at any place away from airfield would manify the frequency of drone launches, either onboard a ship or on land. This also means medium and large UCAV can conitnue to be launched after airfield runways are destroyed.
Depoying hundreds of catapult trucks at any place away from airfield would manify the frequency of drone launches, either onboard a ship or on land. This also means medium and large UCAV can conitnue to be launched after airfield runways are destroyed.
Merchant aircraft carriers are not the same as escort carriers.
Merchant aircraft carriers still carry cargo inside their cargo holds (with the addition of flight deck on top), and they are still considered as merchant ships + largely manned by civilians. In contrast, escort carriers are very much fully-fledged aircraft carriers (albeit mini-sized compared to their fleet carrier counterparts) and are considered proper warships + manned wholely by military personnel.
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The UCAVs have been moved onboard Zhong Da 79, alongside the EMCAT trucks. Posted by @母鸡卡老莫 on Weibo.
Five electromagnetic catapults to four now, 优势在我!