China has launched the world's first crewless drone carrier that uses artificial intelligence to navigate autonomously in open water. Beijing has officially described it as a maritime research tool, but some experts have said the ship has the potential to be used as a military vessel. The autonomous ship, the Zhu Hai Yun (pictured here) is around 290 feet long, 45 feet wide, and 20 feet deep and can carry dozens of air, sea, and submersible drones equipped with different observation instruments, according to the shipbuilder, CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipping Co. It describes the vessel as "epoch making" and the "world's first intelligent unmanned system mother ship." "The most immediate benefit to China is likely data collection," Matthew Funaiole, senior fellow of China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Insider.

Officially it is just a research vessel, but China's newly unveiled drone carrier is a clear sign Beijing is rushing to deploy an autonomous swarm of unmanned devices in its push for military supremacy in the Pacific Ocean. State media last month showed the launching of the Zhu Hai Yun -- "Zhu Hai Cloud" -- capable of transporting an unspecified number of flying drones as well as surface and submarine craft, and operating autonomously thanks to artificial intelligence. The 89-metre (292-foot) ship would be operational by year-end with a top speed of 18 knots, vastly increasing China's surveillance potential of the vast Pacific area it considers its zone of influence. "The vessel is not only an unprecedented precision tool at the frontier of marine science, but also a platform for marine disaster prevention and mitigation, seabed precision mapping, marine environment monitoring, and maritime search and rescue," Chen Dake, lab director at the firm that built the carrier, told China Daily. Armies worldwide see drone squadrons as key players in combat, able to overwhelm defence systems by sheer numbers and without putting soldiers' lives at risk, such as with more expensive jets or tanks.

China has launched the world's first drone carrier, a vessel that will likely be used for military purposes. The ship, Zhu Hai Yun, can be controlled remotely to navigate autonomously in open water. Zhu Hai Yun, launched last week, has a wide deck equipped to carry dozens of unmanned vehicles including drones, unmanned ships and submersibles, reported the South China Morning Post. This also makes it a powerful platform to launch UAVs for military purposes, though Beijing claims the vehicle has been designed for marine research purposes. The drone mothership is expected to be commissioned by the end of the year after sea trials. According to the Chinese state-run Science and Technology Daily, the ship could be an "efficient tool in marine disaster prevention and mitigation, environmental monitoring and offshore wind farm maintenance besides delivering accurate marine information."