Drone carrier

A drone carrier is a crewed or uncrewed ship equipped with a flight deck on which drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) can take off and land. This ship can be civilian or military. In addition to drone carriers for unmanned aerial Vehicles, there are also others for unmanned underwater vehicles and unmanned surface vehicles.

As a naval vessel, a drone carrier is capable of launching and picking up combat drones without the need for large and expensive aircraft carriers.

In March 2013, DARPA began efforts to develop a fleet of small naval vessels capable of launching and retrieving combat drones without the need for large and expensive aircraft carriers. In the UK the UXV Combatant, which would have been a ship dedicated to UCAVs, was proposed for the Royal Navy.

In November 2014, US DoD made an open request for ideas on how to build an airborne aircraft carrier that can launch and retrieve drones using existing military aircraft such as the B-1B, B-52 or C-130.

Turkey
In February 2021, President of the Turkish Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) Ismail Demir made public a new type of UAV being developed by Baykar that is planned to be stationed on Turkey's first amphibious assault ship, TCG Anadolu. The new aircraft Baykar Bayraktar TB3 being developed is a naval version of the Bayraktar TB2 equipped with a local engine developed by TEI. According to the initial plans, the ship was expected to be equipped with F-35B fighter jets, but following the removal of Turkey from the procurement program, the vessel entered into a modification process to be able to accommodate UAVs. Mr. Demir stated that between 30 and 50 folding-winged Bayraktar TB3 UAVs will be able to land and take off using the deck of Anadolu.

China
On May 18, 2022, the first Chinese unmanned drone carrier named Zhuhai Cloud ("Zhu Hai Yun ") was launched in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province in China, intended to advance marine research and economics.

Iran
Iran is also trying to build a drone carrier (named Shahid Bagheri) with an 180m long flight deck by converting a container ship. Its reported that several kinds of drones and helicopters can takeoff from and land on the said carrier. It will also carry several anti-ship and anti-air missiles for protection. Shahid Bagheri can also carry 30 Ashura class missile speedboats with itself.