China is exploring an unusual idea even at a time when drones have become a protagonist in almost every military conversation: taking some of the logic of an aviation catapult from the aircraft carrier and bringing it to trucks and containers. We are not talking, at least with the information available, of a fully demonstrated operational capacity or a substitute for a conventional naval deck. What we have seen in open sources points rather to a modular concept: a removable take-off runway for drones where there is no runway.
The last push to the issue has been given by a video spread on Chinese networks. The original post has been deleted, but can be traced back to an archived post from the WeChat account associated with the School of Mechanical Engineering at the Beijing Institute of Technology. In addition, the video comes after other clues: previous photos of the system, its appearance in the vicinity of the Zhong Da 79 ship and a family of military modules in containers that point in the same direction.
A catapult outside the aircraft carrier
In the most recent images, the system appears to be made up of three trucks that can move separately and then join together to create a single launch line. The sequence shows the takeoff of a propeller drone, with a high wing, V-tail and tricycle landing gear, an aircraft much lighter than the possible models, with which this concept had been visually associated in previous images. There are also upper covers and four-wheel steering, which would allow the assembly to be oriented with more room for maneuver.
Capture of the recently released video, which shows the launch of a drone from the mobile electromagnetic catapult made up of several trucks
The catapult, in any case, is just one part of a broader family of containerized military systems. Material attributed to the School of Mechanical Engineering at the Beijing Institute of Technology includes modules with anti-ship missile launchers, land attack missiles, surface-to-air missiles, close-in defense, radars, electronic warfare, and command and control. Containers designed to transport a catapult truck and a disassembled drone also appear. According to that publication, the goal would be to produce 2,000 containerized systems per year.
Capture of the recently released video
It is no coincidence that the concept revolves around an electromagnetic catapult. China has already taken important steps in this technology with the Fujian, the aircraft carrier that marks its leap towards catapult operations and detained recovery on deck. This context helps to understand why this mobile system is interesting: it was not born as an isolated technical oddity, but within a stronger commitment to expand ways to put aircraft in the air. The Type 076 Sichuan, an amphibious assault ship openly associated with drone operations, is pointing in a similar direction.
Capture of the recently released video
The entire photo goes beyond visual weirdness. China is not only expanding its naval aviation, it has also been pushing advanced aviation programs for years such as the J-20, its fifth-generation stealth fighter, and the J-35, a design associated with the leap towards more modern ship-borne operations. The mobile catapult doesn’t play in the same league as those planes, but it fits the same question: how to deploy more air capacity from more places.
One of the first known images of the complex, in which the catapult trucks can be seen together with possible models of unmanned aircraft
If the system worked as the published material suggests, its usefulness would be in bringing assisted launches to places where a conventional runway is not available or is too vulnerable. We are talking about islands, remote areas, prepared roads, temporary bases or ships with sufficient deck space. It would not serve to deploy any aircraft or to replace a complete aerial infrastructure, but it could bring light drones closer to specific areas of operation. In scenarios like this, every kilometer that the drone does not have to travel from a distant base counts.
The list of unknowns remains long. We do not know what electrical power the system needs, what logistical footprint it requires, how the drones are charged before each launch or what actual cadence it could sustain outside of a controlled demonstration. There are also doubts about their use at sea: one thing is to place the modules on the deck of a ship with enough space and another is to launch drones with stability while the ship moves. The difference between teaching a demonstrator and having a useful military capability is still enormous.
Images | Beijing Institute of Technology/WeChat
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