Defence

After China's Flat-Top Aircraft Carrier 'Fujian,' Its New Mystery Stealth Corvette-Like Ship Goes Out To Sea For Trials

Ujjwal ShrotryiaMay 17, 2024, 04:28 PM | Updated 04:28 PM IST
Chinese stealthy vessel heading out to sea. (X/@AlexLuck9)

Chinese stealthy vessel heading out to sea. (X/@AlexLuck9)


China’s new mystery corvette-like ship has headed out to sea for trials.


The tumblehome-like design makes the ship difficult to detect by radar and has smooth surfaces with a premium on stealthy design, such as having an integrated mast and a main gun hidden inside a cupola, just like the Swedish Visby-class corvette.

Swedish Visby class corvette firing its main gun. (Saab)

This comes after last week, China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, completed its maiden sea trials.

Fujian, which is an 80,000-tonne aircraft carrier, uses a Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) system which is capable of launching and recovering heavier aircrafts from its deck making it ideal for force projection.


In littoral waters, due to the background clutter and the presence of small fishing vessels close to the coast, the vessel could easily hide using its small radar signature. Due to its stealthy design, the vessel will appear to be a small fishing vessel on radar compared to its original much larger size, evading detection.

The ship was spotted under construction last August at China's Dalian Liaoning South Shipyard.

Spy shot of the unknown ship under fiting out stage at China's Dalian Liaoning South Shipyard. (Weibo)


Join our WhatsApp channel - no spam, only sharp analysis