A novel uncrewed aircraft unveiled by China in late 2024 to deploy large numbers of small drones has recently logged its first flight.
Known alternatively as the “Jetank” or “Jiutian”, the large uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) was indigenously developed by the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), being first revealed at Zhuhai air show in 2024.
At the time the platform was described as a “swarm carrier”, meant to air-launch dozens of smaller uncrewed drones from what AVIC calls a “hive module”.
Roughly a year after its debut at Zhuhai, the official Chinese Communist Party (CCP) newspaper the People’s Daily reports that AVIC completed the first Jetank sortie on 11 December in the Pucheng region of China’s Shaanxi province.
In its latest update, the CCP publication notably refers to the new aircraft as the “Jiutian”, or “Nine Heavens” in Mandarin. However, the state-affiliated, nationalist digital newspaper the Global Times still refers to the AVIC design by its original Jetank moniker in its latest coverage.
Photos shared by the People’s Daily on the social media site X show the Jetank lifting off from a tarmac runway. The outer mould shape appears largely unchanged since the 2024 display appearance at Zhuhai, including a single, dorsal-mounted jet engine and twin vertical tail fins.
Information provided by Beijing reaffirms some of the aircraft specifications originally listed for the Jetank, including a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 16,000kg (35,300lb), a payload of up to 6,000kg and a wingspan of 25m (82ft).
An MTOW of 16t is roughly equivalent to that of an American Lockheed Martin F-16 or other similar light fighter aircraft. The Jetank’s 25m wingspan is significantly wider than that of the F-16, which measures just under 10m.
New specifications on the so-called swarm carrier released by AVIC include a flight endurance of 12h and a ferry range of 3,780nm (7,000km).
Comparison to other large UAVs already in active service elsewhere offers some insights into the Jetank’s likely missions.
The AVIC design is significantly smaller than the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton UAV, which is designed for long-range maritime surveillance patrol and boasts a wingspan of nearly 40m.
The MQ-4C also has a substantially greater flight endurance of 24h and range of 7,400nm, indicative of the Triton’s focus on efficiency and long distance flying over the Jetank’s mission of delivering munitions or other payloads over shorter distances.
The Chinese type notably has an MTOW roughly 1.5t greater than the American MQ-4C.
The Jetank is closer in size to the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9A Reaper UAV, which is also designed for multi-role operations, including both reconnaissance and air-to-ground strikes.
The MQ-9A’s 20m wingspan is much closer to the Jetank’s 25m, but with a substantially lower MTOW of 4.7t compared to 16t for the Jetank. That supports the notion that the Chinese UAV is meant to carry aloft substantial payloads – whether those be small drones, conventional weapons or other battlefield effects.
Both types are also remotely piloted via satellite data link.
Available photos and renderings indicate the Jetank’s drone-launching hive module is internally carried within a centre fuselage mission module, with the drone payload launching from side-opening bays.
AVIC is also exploring a number of other applications for that mission module, including airlift, air drop and countermeasures deployment.
The Zhuhai air show static display from 2024 indicated the Jetank also features eight hardpoints for conventional weapons, including guided missiles and bombs.
“This huge drone can carry a wide range of weapons and equipment comparable to those carried by modern fighter jets and bombers,” Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military aviation analyst and former People’s Liberation Army Air Force officer, told the Global Times at the 2024 Zhuhai show.
Fu also noted that the UAV carries an onboard radar system and an electro-optical surveillance and targeting pod in its nose.
However, after originally positioning the Jiutian/Jetank as a military platform, Beijing now says the multi-role UAV is being targeted for civil applications.
These include heavy cargo transport to remote locations, emergency communications support, natural disaster response, geographic surveying and mineral exploration, according to the CCP’s official newspaper.
