A mysterious large flattop has been spotted at a shipyard in southeastern China. The vessel does not look like any other ship that China is developing, indicating that the country may be working on an entirely new design and class of vessel.
The mysterious vessel was reportedly spotted in satellite imagery of the Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) on Longxue Island, located just southeast of Guangzhou. Tom Shugart, a defense analyst and former submariner who is now an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) think tank, first located it.
The image dates back to September 2024 and was posted on social media by the analyst, piquing the interest of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) watchers and Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) experts.
According to some reports, Shugart initially became interested in this shipyard after sighting a brand-new, fast-trimaran uncrewed surface vessel (USV), which has been in Guangzhou since at least 2022.
The flat-top vessel in question is reportedly about 200 meters long and about 40 meters wide and has two islands on one side of the deck. Shugart pointed out that Mike Dahm of @MitchellStudies discovered a new drone carrier at another shipyard a few months ago, although it was considerably smaller, measuring only 80-100 meters in length.
He said in one of his posts on X: “So it just jumped out to me that next to the possible new Chinese USV is what looks like might be…possibly a new aircraft carrier or amphibious assault ship of some sort?”
Anyone know what this vessel is? Spotted at GSI Longxue Island shipyard in Guangzhou, this image is from 10/9/2024.
It's about 60m long and it's been in other imagery for a few months. pic.twitter.com/N8rulBnvTF
— Tom Shugart (@tshugart3) October 28, 2024
In subsequent posts on X, he further observed that satellite imagery from late October 2024 revealed the flight deck of this vessel. Without drawing any conclusions, he said that the USV visible in the yard likewise seemed to be painted gray. More satellite images showing the USV and the flat-top at GSI have since been posted to X.
The details about this new vessel are scant as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) often keeps the development of new platforms shrouded in secrecy. However, a host of speculations have since flooded the internet—with some experts suggesting it could be a USV carrier while others making predictions that it is more likely to be an amphibious landing dock.
Update: here's an image from later in October that does show the "flight deck" being painted gray.
Also, the possible USV also appears to be painted gray, with potentially its own smaller helicopter deck painted a similar darker gray color. pic.twitter.com/63qnqiNs6Q
— Tom Shugart (@tshugart3) October 28, 2024
This particular shipyard is known for the construction of civilian vessels, gas containers, and China’s infamous Ro-Ro ships. This has led some military watchers to predict that the flat-top could even be a scientific research vessel or some kind of experimental carrier.
An ardent watcher of the PLA Navy and a renowned defense analyst, Alex Luck, wrote on X: “More imagery needed (obviously). Longxue so far primarily built PLAN auxiliaries in addition to civilian hulls. For now, I am leaning more toward a large experimental vessel rather than an actual carrier. Similar to the smaller design seen elsewhere.”
Some experts also conjectured that this vessel could be the large, advanced unmanned ship that was unveiled in 2022. According to the Chinese state publication Global Times, the ship was being constructed in Guangzhou.
All these observations are mere speculations at this point due to a lack of credible information from Chinese authorities. However, the emergence of this new vessel is significant as it comes at a time when the PLA Navy is making huge strides in expanding maritime capability by leveraging its incredible shipbuilding capacity.
China has been producing state-of-the-art aircraft carriers, destroyers, amphibious landing vessels, and dedicated drone carriers, demonstrating a scale of expansion not seen before in history.
In addition, it is also amassing a fleet of roll-on-roll-over (RoRo) ships and dedicated car carriers that double up as amphibious transport vessels that experts believe could be used in a future invasion of Taiwan.
China’s Expanding Naval Capability
The appearance of a new flat-top in China is intriguing because the country is already building and testing multiple such platforms. The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) currently has two aircraft carriers—the Liaoning and Shandong—in service.
A third carrier, Type-003 ‘Fujian,’ which features an electromagnetic catapult, is undergoing testing and is anticipated to enter service by next year.
China’s aircraft carriers are crucial for its ambition of a blue-water navy, which would allow it to project power in far-off seas and give the United States stiff competition.
According to some reports, the construction of the fourth Chinese aircraft carrier has also started in earnest. The ‘yet-to-be-named’ 110,000-ton super-carrier Type 004 is allegedly planned to be larger than Type 003 and feature nuclear propulsion, an integrated electric system, laser weapons, and rail guns.
In addition to these heavy carriers, China has also developed and inducted the ‘Type-075’ Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) amphibious assault carriers. Experts say the Type 075 can undertake highly complex operations like amphibious landings.
“It is widely believed that the Type 075 would have a significant role in any military attack on Taiwan, which Beijing has vowed to bring under mainland control, by force if necessary,” said a previous report in the South China Morning Post.
The Type-075, according to some Chinese experts, would operate in tandem with Ro-Ro vessels in a potential invasion of Taiwan.
China is also constructing an amphibious assault ship, known as Type 076, which will succeed the Type-075 in the future and is equipped with advanced technology. The vessel was, in fact, recently spotted with two island superstructures.
With a flight deck measuring approximately 260 meters by 52 meters, the Type-076 is set to become the largest amphibious assault ship in the world. This ship is unique in the way that it features a unique catamaran hull design, which offers a larger deck area.
Some military watchers believe that this could be a dedicated drone carrier.
All these platforms are part of PLAN’s plan of readying a Blue Water Navy. Additionally, China is rapidly expanding its shipbuilding capacity. Beijing plans to use the PLAN to project dominance in the far seas and maintain control over the near seas as part of its future strategy.
Writing for EurAsian Times, Indian Air Force veteran Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd) said: “China’s strategic transformation to a dominant global naval power is based on Mahanian realpolitik. Its immediate targets are defending China’s sea lines of communication (SLOCs) to the Persian Gulf, countering maritime security threats such as piracy, and building a force to assert China’s overall status and image as a major world power.”
- Contact the author at sakshi.tiwari9555 (at) gmail.com
- Follow EurAsian Times on Google News
