China is rapidly building an unusual assault ship with an apparent catapult system for launching aircraft, but its purpose is still a mystery

• China's new amphibious assault ship is massive, unusual, and a bit of a mystery.
• It's a noteworthy addition to the Chinese navy, seemingly capable of fulfilling various purposes and missions.
• The Type 076's most interesting feature appears to be its catapult system, which may be capable of launching fixed-wing aircraft.

China's shipbuilding industry has been hard at work on a new class of amphibious assault ships, building the first ship of the class at an astonishingly quick pace.

But the purpose of the large, advanced Type 076 warship may serve is still something of a mystery. In fact, there are still plenty of unknowns surrounding this unusual vessel.

Satellite images, provided to Business Insider by the Center of Strategic and International Studies, show shipbuilding progress on the Type 76 amphibious assault ship , also known as the Yulan-class, in Shanghai's Changxing Island Shipbuilding Base. The images, dated July 4, capture a variety of details about the vessel.

Compared to its Type 075, Yushen-class predecessor, there appear to be a number of notable differences. Perhaps most apparent is the size. The Type 076 is much longer and larger than the Type 075, and when it is completed, it will be the largest amphibious assault ship in the world, easily exceeding its US and Japanese counterparts, according to a CSIS analysis of the new vessel .

The benefits of a larger warship include a potential capacity for more aircraft, more space to host a variety of personnel aboard, and internal storage space for other assets.

But perhaps the aspect of the Type 076 that stands out most is that it appears to feature a catapult launching system for fixed-wing aircraft, technology also featured on China's new CNS Fujian aircraft carrier , which features an electromagnetic aircraft launch system like the newest US aircraft carriers, the Ford-class ships.

"This is not something that we've seen before," Matthew Funaiole, a senior fellow with the China Power Project at CSIS, told Business Insider. "No other country has an LHA that has a catapult system on it," he said, referring to a landing helicopter assault ship. This capability would put the warship somewhere in between a traditional assault ship and an aircraft carrier.

The addition of a catapult launch system on the Type 076 suggests, Funaiole added, that China is confident in that technology despite just introducing it on the Fujian. But it remains unclear what types of combat jets China would launch off the Type 076 or if those aircraft would be manned at all.

With the Fujian, China made a technological leap from the ski-jump-style aircraft launch systems of its earlier carriers to advanced electromagnetic catapults, completely skipping over steam-powered catapults in the process.

China could use the catapult system, as experts and top China watchers have suggested, to launch unmanned aerial vehicles. But if it can, despite operational and technological constraints, launch manned aircraft, that would make the Type 76 almost a hybrid, mini-carrier of sorts, filling an unusual role. The catapults, wide flight deck, and clear runway would support that, though it's not easy.

Bryan Clark, a former US Navy officer and defense expert at the Hudson Institute, explained that China likely wants the capability to launch long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles, and the new catapult is a "creative" way to do so for some of its drones.

China's military operates a variety of strike and reconnaissance drones, and years ago, as CSIS notes in its analysis, photos surfaced of what looked like drones on a catapult test track. And at the Changxing facility, apparent unmanned aerial vehicle mock-ups have been seen at a testing facility, though the purpose and intent is unclear.

Per Funaiole, it's most likely that the biggest role of the Type 76, at least initially, will be better integration with regard to how China uses its UAVs with naval operations.

But as important as its capabilities is just how fast the Type 076 was built.

"I think it is as important, if not more important, to emphasize how mind-bogglingly impressive China's ability to build ships is," Funaiole said, noting that while the exact timeline of its construction is unclear, China started building the 076, likely prioritizing it, while finishing the new dry dock it was in.

It's just a small example of the capacity and size of China's shipbuilding power . The big takeaway from the Type 076's building, Clark said, is it shows how once China's "got a hot production line" and is "able to leverage commercial shipbuilding capacity essentially for military ship construction," it "can build ships, like a Type 076, pretty quickly."

Despite how unusual the Type 76 appears to be, the US certainly could've accomplished a vessel of this nature, Funaiole said.

But the US has "leaned quite heavily and rightfully so on supercarriers," Funaiole said, which are inherently versatile, carry a variety of aircraft, and can conduct a diverse range of missions.

The US also has America-class and Wasp-class amphibious assault ships for other types of missions. "There might not necessarily be a need for this kind of platform" in the US Navy, he added.

There are questions about the role of the Type 076 in a conflict scenario. It could, for instance, play a part in an invasion or blockade of Taiwan, or support the use of drones and helicopters for surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, and other reconnaissance.

But according to Clark, the Type 076 is most likely more aligned with China's goal of becoming a blue water Navy, capable of power projection far from its own shores. Perhaps that flexibility is exactly what China wants — a ship that could complete a variety of missions and function as a key addition to its growing naval power .