amphibious

Shipbuilders and navies around the world, including China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and the U.S. Navy, have long used weighted trucks to test catapults on aircraft carriers as part of their construction or following maintenance. 

The video below shows testing of the catapults on the U.S. Navy’s supercarrier USS Gerald R. Ford using weighted trucks.

Overall, Sichuan represents a particularly notable development for the PLAN. Chinese officials have said the Type 076 displaces more than 40,000 metric tons (44,000 U.S. tons). TWZ has previously assessed that the ship is around 864 feet long and that it is some 141 feet wide (or 263 and nearly 43 meters, respectively). China’s previous Type 075 amphibious assault ships, of which there are now four in service, have a stated displacement of between 32,000 and 36,000 metric tons (35,000 to 40,000 U.S. tons) with a full load, and are just over 761 feet long and nearly 121 feet wide. Sichuan is also notably wider than other big deck amphibious warfare ships in service globally, including the U.S. Navy’s America class.

Sichuan‘s unusually wide flight deck is absolutely core to the design. Along with the ship’s two islands, this has long made clear the ship is heavily focused sustained flight operations. This will include fixed-wing types launched via the catapult at the bow end and recovered via some form of arresting gear.

There have been growing signs for years now that a navalized variant of the GJ-11 UCAV, also sometimes referred to as the GJ-21, will be an especially significant part of Sichuan‘s future air wing. Most recently, around the beginning of this month, pictures emerged showing a version of the drone with an arresting hook very prominently deployed. Last year, apparent GJ-11 mockups had also appeared at a test and/or training site right on Changxing Island in Shanghai, very close to where the Type 076 was being built.

Just this week, Chinese authorities announced that the land-based version of the GJ-11, now officially named the Mysterious Dragon, had entered operational service with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). Any future naval versions of the drone could also find their way onto other big deck ships in the PLAN’s inventory, including its first catapult-equipped aircraft carrier, the Fujian, which was commissioned last week.

Sichuan‘s air wing will not be limited to variations of the GJ-11 design, and is expected to include a host of other current and future crewed and uncrewed types. Various helicopters, as well as an as-yet unnamed crewed tiltrotor aircraft under development in China, which is now in flight testing, could be part of that mix.

The Type 076 design also has a well deck at the stern to support traditional amphibious assault operations.

As TWZ previously wrote about the overall significance of the Sichuan:

“The potential value to the PLAN of having a fleet of very large deck amphibious assault ships that are highly capable of large-scale drone operations as well as traditional amphibious assaults is clear. These ships could be used to launch and recover UCAVs like the GJ-11 and other types of drones to perform a host of missions from maritime strike to intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). They could be used to provide additional ‘mass’ in support of the operations of larger carrier strike groups and help to free the air wings of flattops like Fujian up for tasks they might be better suited for. In addition, they could provide a lower tier of naval aviation support that could be employed independently.”

…

“Simply having more naval aviation capacity overall would give the PLAN added flexibility for various operations closer to the mainland, including a potential military intervention against Taiwan or defending its expansive and largely unrecognized territorial claims in places like the South China Sea. Type 076s could also help project naval and air power further from China’s shores, something that has also been a driving factor behind the country’s broader carrier ambitions.”

…

“The Type 076 could help provide support during humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations. Big deck amphibious warfare ships, in general, provide their operators with immensely valuable platforms for projecting both hard and soft power.”

Sichuan is reflective of a larger effort by the PLAN to significantly expand its capabilities and operational capacity, including for projecting power well beyond China’s shores and any regional contingencies. A dramatic expansion in the naval aviation realm has been a particular centerpiece of this modernization push, which traces all the way back to the 1990s. This is all further underscored by the increasingly strong evidence that China’s next supercarrier will be a nuclear-powered design.

Whether the PLAN’s current ambitions include plans to acquire more Type 076s is unclear. Putting to sea now is certainly another major step in the process of getting Sichuan into actual operational service.

Contact the author: [email protected]

Officials in Russia, which recently ratified a mutual support agreement with Venezuela, have voiced their support for Maduro.

Moscow “resolutely condemns the use of excessive military force” by the U.S. in the Caribbean,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, adding that Russia fully supports the Venezuelan government in its efforts to safeguard national sovereignty and maintain the region as a “zone of peace.”

Amid the growing tensions, Russian aircraft have landed in Venezuela. potentially with military supplies, Defense News reported last week.

Meanwhile, as Trump maintains a level of strategic ambiguity about his objectives toward Maduro, the U.S “has begun detailed planning for a new mission to send American troops and intelligence officers into Mexico to target drug cartels,” NBC News reported Monday morning.  That possibility and how it could happen were subjects we examined in great detail back in February, which you can read about here.

While no deployments are imminent, training for such a mission is already underway, the network added.

“The U.S. troops, many of whom would be from Joint Special Operations Command, would operate under the authority of the U.S. intelligence community, known as Title 50 status,” NBC posited, citing two anonymous U.S. officials. ”They said officers from the CIA also would participate.”

These operations would have U.S. troops in Mexico “mainly use drone strikes to hit drug labs and cartel members and leaders,” the report continued. “Some of the drones that special forces would use require operators to be on the ground to use them effectively and safely, the officials said.”

As we have previously wrote, such an operation would be precedent-setting. While U.S. troops like Green Berets from the 7th Special Forces Group routinely work with Mexican forces, training them to hit cartels and serving as observers on raids, there has yet to be a known U.S. military kinetic action inside Mexico.

The most famous example of a covert strike using U.S. troops under Title 50 authority was the 2011 Navy SEAL attack on al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden, but what NBC is describing is a much more sustained operation with increased risks, a former White House official under the first Trump administration told us.

“This seems like more of a campaign,” Javed Ali, who worked in the National Security Council’s (NSC) counterterrorism unit during the first Trump administration, explained. “What the administration is trying to achieve under Title 50 is ostensibly to use military force, but covertly. But in this day of social media, it is harder to not have that revealed. They lose the element of surprise.”

As we have previously reported, Mexico’s increasingly well-armed drug cartels pose a serious threat to external forces. Some cartel units are have adopted some of the latest features of warfare. They have been using drones to attack enemies for years now, for instance. These organizations also often move around in increasingly well-protected so-called “narco tanks.” 

Ali raised an additional concern. Would the cartels, who already have operatives in the United States, strike back if they were attacked in Mexico?

“The enemy gets a vote,” Ali suggested. “Would the cartels be so bold to actually conduct attacks inside the United States is an open question. If a cartel lab gets blown up or cartel leaders are killed in drone strikes, how would they respond? Inside the government, I would have to think they are looking at all those contingencies.”

Still, even with these risks, it seems clear the Trump is willing to go further than his predecessors in hopes of significantly reducing the flow of narcotics into the United States. Public support for such actions will likely be dictated by losses of American troops — if any — in the process, should such operations move forward. It’s also not clear where the Mexican government stands on this issue at this time.

It is unknown exactly what the Trump administration will do when it comes to countering cartels and taking on Maduro. However, while U.S. strikes against the Venezuelan cartels have been limited to attacks on alleged drug-smuggling boats, the possibility exists that America could soon find itself conducting kinetic strikes on two fronts in its own backyard.

Update: 5:03 PM Eastern –

The Navy provided us with some context about why the Fort Lauderdale was in Mayport.

“The USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) returned to Naval Station Mayport from Oct. 24 to Nov. 2, 2025, for a mid-deployment voyage repair (MDVR) and maintenance period. NS Mayport’s facilities offered the most expedient option with the best infrastructure, maintenance, repair, and logistical support for the maintenance period.

A Mid-Deployment voyage repair (MDVR) is a period, roughly halfway through a ship’s deployment, where necessary and preventative maintenance and repairs are made. This MDVR allowed Fort Lauderdale to conduct vital maintenance to the ship with the support of in-port services.

In-port maintenance and logistical support enable the ship to correct and maintain materiel readiness, warfighter readiness, and sustainability.”

Contact the author: [email protected]