The Sichuan is the only amphibious assault Landing Helicopter Dock in the world to feature an Electromagnetic Launch System.
The catapult aboard China’s massive Type 076 LHD (Landing Helicopter Dock) amphibious assault ship, the “Sichuan,” has been tested for the first time,images that appeared on Oct. 22, 2025 seem to suggest.
The photos show the vessel repositioned toward the open waters of the Yangtze River, with the launch system uncovered and illuminated at night. According to South China Morning Post, a maritime safety notice established a no-entry zone in front of the dock from October 20 to 29 for “underwater activities,” suggesting the shipyard was conducting sled tests of the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), during which a weighted metal carriage is launched into the water to simulate aircraft takeoff performance.
The LHD, with a displacement of 40,000 ton, was confirmed to have a single catapult on the port-side of its main flight deck when an overhead satellite image of the vessel under construction on Jun. 9, 2024 showed a long empty section that observers concluded would house the catapult.
Subsequent official images of its commissioning on Dec. 27, 2024, showed the long shed covering the port-side portion of the deck, running lengthwise, again confirming the catapult’s presence. Such sheds were also previously used to cover the CNS Fujian’s catapults.
That carrier, that reached a major milestone in September by launching and recovering the J-35 stealth fighter, J-15T carrier-borne jet, and the KJ-600 AEW&C aircraft, also underwent a similar test of its EMALS (Electro-Magnetic Launch System) catapult on Nov. 26, 2023.
076型強襲揚陸艦1番艦”四川(51)”がダミーウェイトを用いた電磁カタパルトの射出試験を実施したとみられるとのこと。
進水から1年足らずではあるが近いうちに海上公試を開始する見込み。 https://t.co/UZBrJ9vWu7 pic.twitter.com/S76mzGEahn— お砂糖wsnbn (@sugar_wsnbn) October 22, 2025
The Sichuan is the world’s only amphibious ship to feature a catapult launch system, and previous satellite images at mock test sites have indicated it would carry the GJ-11 Sharp Sword UCAV. That flying-wing aircraft was paraded, together with at least four different types of CCAs/UCAVs, in September.
The ship also features a twin-island design, similar to the Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.
Catapult tests
The unofficial image of the test on the Fujian showed a splash in the water in the harbor, ahead of the carrier’s bow, indicating the impact of the representative test object, usually a sled, launched from the EMALS catapult.
Even without an official confirmation, we can safely conclude that the Sichuan has an EMALS-powered catapult, and not a steam-powered one, since China already has a homegrown and functional technology on the Fujian. The EMALS on the Sichuan may very well be a derivative of the flattop’s one.
⚡ 🇨🇳 China’s Type 076 Sichuan Tests EMALS Catapult for Drone Launches.
The PLAN’s new amphibious assault ship Sichuan just wrapped its first electromagnetic catapult trials during sea tests in the East China Sea. This setup lets it fling fixed-wing drones and helos into action,… pic.twitter.com/92J3TWLalF
— G-2 Sitrep (@G2_SITREP) October 22, 2025
In the picture of the Sichuan claimed to represent the catapult trial, the ship is turned and facing away from the pier, along which it is berthed parallely. This could be done to steer away from the other smaller vessels and tugs. We neither see a test object on the deck nor a splash in the water to definitively capture the test.
However, a piece of evidence of the EMALS catapult trial, along with the night-time image of the Sichuan turned away from the pier, was a notice to mariners by the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration. “[It designated] a small rectangular no-entry zone from October 20 to October 29, directly in front of the shipyard’s dock entrance,” said the SCMP (South China Morning Post).
The notice to mariners cited daily “underwater activities” within the zone from 9 am to 5 pm. Given that such tests normally use sleds as test objects, the “underwater activities” may refer to the recovery of the test vehicle. Also, considering the speed at which the ship has progressed, we can assume it would commence harbour acceptance trials by this year’s end, and sea trials at least before mid-2026.
On November 26th, the Type 003 aircraft carrier „Fujian” (PLANS-18) conducted an electromagnetic catapult ejection test, that was said to have succeeded.
(Images and clip via @风Qing颂 from Weibo) pic.twitter.com/0sp7LToJCH
— @Rupprecht_A (@RupprechtDeino) November 26, 2023
CNS Sichuan role
Beside being the largest amphibious assault carrier that would be used in a Taiwan invasion, along with the Type 075 particularly for the rocky waters of its eastern shores, another common consensus is that the new LHD would carry the GJ-11 flying-wing UCAV.
While Taiwan’s western shores off China’s eastern seaboard could easily be reached by the several civilian RoRo (Roll-On/Roll-Off) vessels frequently shown in exercises, the choppy seas eastwards, deeper in the western Pacific, can only be handled by naval vessels like the Type 075 and the Type 076.
The rotary-wing fleet could consist of a mix of helicopters including the Changhe Z-8, Z-9, Z-18, Z-20, Z-10 attack helicopter, or even the Z-21 heavy-class attack helicopter. If it is used in a light aircraft carrier role, it can carry the J-15T, the J-15DT electronic warfare aircraft or the J-35. That possibility however seems dim, given that the Type 076 Sichuan’s width is evidently small for the large fighters.
In satellite imagery of the Changxing Island Shipbuilding Base, what appear to be mock-ups of GJ-11 drones are visible in a testing facility. They are likely there in anticipation of trials on the Type 003 aircraft carrier—and potentially for the Type 076 once it is completed. pic.twitter.com/AV9SWqthHq
— CSIS (@CSIS) August 6, 2024
Role of the aircraft aboard the CNS Sichuan
The presence of arrestor cables, the EMALS catapult and the existence at carrier test sites of dummy mock ups of the GJ-11 certainly make for an interesting, first-of-its-kind amphibious attack concept. Turkey’s TCG Anadolu, another amphibious attack ship with a ski-jump, meanwhile has hosted dozens of take-offs and landings by the TB3 Bayraktar UCAV, but does not have arrestor cables or an EMALS catapult.
How the GJ-11 might be used in this scheme of things remains to be seen. However, the most plausible explanation could be that the amphibious carrier might want its own organic unmanned ISR-strike capability with a LO (Low-Observable) aircraft, without having to depend on assets from the PLARF (PLA Rocket Force), the PLA Navy’s other three carriers.
An amphibious landing facing fortified beachhead defenses and dugouts – itself the last stage in the escalatory naval blockade meant to pressure Taiwan’s leadership, and which would be taken if they don’t cave in – would be a bloody affair, if the Normandy landings are anything to go by.
The first Type 076, the PLANS-51 “Sichuan” has left the dock.
(Images via @央视军事 from Weibo) pic.twitter.com/ULb1EAvs4N
— @Rupprecht_A (@RupprechtDeino) December 29, 2024
The GJ-11, or whichever aircraft the arrestor hooks and the catapult are meant for, would have a role in High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE)-type aerial surveillance. Observing beachheads and inland defenses, the aircraft could possibly ‘soften’ some of them, before releasing amphibious tanks and troops.
