China Tested the World’s Largest Jiutian Mothership Drone, Capable of Launching Over a Hundred Attack UAVs

For the first time, China’s Jiutian, the world’s largest mothership drone, capable of launching more than a hundred attack drones in swarm mode, has taken to the skies.

The Xinhua news agency reported on this.

The large drone took off for the first time in the Chinese province of Shaanxi. The device was publicly unveiled at Airshow China 2024 last year.

The Jiutian, with a maximum takeoff weight of 16 tons, can carry up to 6 tons of payload and has eight suspension points for guided bombs, air-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, and kamikaze drones.

In addition, inside the fuselage, the Chinese drone can carry more than 100 small attack drones designed for massive simultaneous strikes, for example, to overwhelm air defense systems.

The aircraft was built by the Chinese state-owned Xi’an Chida Aircraft Parts Manufacturing Co. Ltd. and has a wingspan of 25 meters and a length of 16 meters. The declared flight range is 7 thousand kilometers. It can stay in the air for more than 12 hours.

Now, Jiutian will undergo a series of flight and other tests, both in the air and on the ground, to verify that the drone meets the specified parameters.

At the same time, the aircraft’s large size will allow it to be detected by radar at considerable range.

This will affect the drone’s actual ability to perform combat missions against an enemy equipped with modern detection and air defense systems.

As a reminder, the Chinese company LOONG UAV has begun testing the LOONG M9 kamikaze drone, which resembles the Russian Geran and the Iranian Shahed in terms of shape and concept.