China’s People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has reported that its GJ-21 stealth reconnaissance and strike drone had taken off from and landed on the Type 076 amphibious assault ship Sichuan.
The drone was launched using the ship's electromagnetic catapult and recovered with an arrested landing. China's armed forces said the flights took place "recently" but did not disclose the date, location, or number of launches and recoveries. No photographs or video of the flights had been released.
The official announcement said the flights indicated, "that the PLAN now has the capability to operate fixed-wing stealth drones from large maritime combat platforms."
The navy has not disclosed how many GJ-21s Sichuan can embark, or the drone's maximum launch weight. It has also not stated how many aircraft the ship can operate at once or what sustained sortie rates it can generate.
Song Zhongping, a Chinese military affairs expert, told Global Times that continued compatibility testing with multiple unmanned aircraft types would follow.
"The Type 076 could serve as a testbed for cutting-edge technologies," Song said. "It can operate independently as a drone carrier and build technical knowhow for China's third aircraft carrier to host manned-unmanned teaming."
The GJ-21 is a naval derivative of the GJ-11 drone. It has a subsonic, tailless flying-wing configuration, a single turbofan and internal weapons bays, and adds catapult-compatible landing gear and an arresting hook.
Sichuan was launched at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in Shanghai on December 27, 2024. She began sea trials in November 2025, and commissioning was then tentatively scheduled by 2027.
The ship has one electromagnetic catapult, three arresting wires and two side-mounted aircraft elevators. A stern well deck can accommodate two Type 726 air-cushioned landing craft, and the ship has space for more than 1,000 troops in addition to her crew.