China’s new Type 076 ‘drone carrier’ to take part in South China Sea training drills

China’s next-generation “drone-carrier” amphibious assault ship is en route to the China-sea" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="8346" data-entity-type="location">South China Sea for critical sea trials, China’s military announced Tuesday, in the same waters where the US, the Philippines and Japan are conducting large-scale joint military exercises and the aircraft carrier Liaoning is apparently sailing to.“The Sichuan, our country’s first Type 076 amphibious assault ship, has set sail from Shanghai for relevant waters in the China-sea" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="8346" data-entity-type="location">South China Sea to carry out scientific research trials and training missions, testing the performance of multiple on-board systems and platforms,” the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s official Weibo account said.The brief notice added: “This is a routine cross-regional trial and training exercise organised in accordance with the vessel’s overall construction plan and is not directed at any specific target.”