China drone carrier or not, the battle for naval supremacy in Asia just got murkier

Unmanned aerial vehicles are now so commonplace, not just for surveillance but as attack weapons as well. We’ve heard, too, of unmanned submarines and remotely piloted ships. Are we moving now to the era of the drone carrier?

Short weeks after

China’s newest aircraft carrier Fujian tested her engines

and was moved from her berth in the Yangtze River Delta ahead of just-completed initial sea trials, come reports that hidden away in a yard further up the Yangtze, an altogether different carrier is taking shape – one touted as the world’s first fixed-wing drone carrier.