World’s First Flying Aircraft Carrier: China’s Jiu Tian ‘Mothership’ to Begin Flight Testing

The Chinese Jiu Tian unmanned aircraft, commonly referred as the world’s first ‘drone mothership,’ is expected to make its first flight near the end of June 2025, paving the way to the introduction of the world’s first in an entirely new category of military aircraft. The aircraft was designed with a&nbsp; long 7,000 kilometre range and at high 15,000 meter operational altitude, and has the capacity to carry 100 small drones which it can launch while airborne. It can alternatively carry a range of other precision guided weapons, possibly cruise missiles. First unveiled at the Zhuhai Airshow in November 2024, the is intended to serve not only as a launch platform for up to 100 drones, but also as a control node for the aircraft after they launch. No comparable aircraft are known to be being developed anywhere in the world. It has been widely likened to a flying aircraft carrier, and if successful it has the potential to be followed into service by much larger drone carriers deploying larger quantities of drones or larger drone classes. Its development has occurred at a time when drone warfare is playing an increasingly central role in modern conflicts, as seen in theatres from Sudan and Yemen to South Lebanon and Ukraine.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/20/article_682c8ab3531c52_21957580.webp" title="Jiu Tian Unmanned Drone Carrier Aircraft">The Jiu Tian’s development follows a broader trend towards China’s drone industry leading the world in introducing entirely new kinds of unmanned aerial vehicles for military use. Other notable examples have included the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/china-unmanned-bomber-15hour" target="_blank">CH-5 </a>unmanned long range stealth bomber, WZ-9 Divine Eagle which is designed to deploy multiple long range radar from very high altitudes, and the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/china-hypersonic-drone-ready-korea-taiwan" >WZ-7 surveillance drone</a> which is currently the world’s only air breathing aircraft designed to operate at hypersonic speeds. Other hypersonic drones have since been <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/china-unveils-new-classes-of-hypersonic-drones" >unveiled</a> in the country. Nevertheless, the complexity of using an aircraft like the Jiu Tian as a flying drone carrier will pose unprecedented challenges in development, with China’s strong lead in the quantities of AI research being carried out expected to provide it with unique advantages in operationalising such a system. While concepts for flying aircraft carriers have been explored since the early years of the Cold War, in particular in the United States, the Jiu Tian program poises China to become the first country in the world to field such a system.&nbsp;