Chinese UAV/UCAV development

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williamhou

Junior Member
I find the Saudi attack very interesting, if drones were responsible. Saudi has the third largest military budget in the world, with advanced radar systems and SAM including MIM-104 Patriot. The drones used were reportedly of Iranian origin, which could in turn be developed from Chinese drones.

I wonder why Saudi’s air defences never detected or did anything to stop it, even till now a few days after the attack they are still uncertain whether the drones/attack was coming from Iran or Iraq or Yemen, or what exactly were used, and need US intelligence to help with their analysis.

Considering the size of Saudi Arabia, the concentration of military budget is comparable or maybe higher than that of the US or China. Does that indicate drones used in this attack or the way they have executed it unstoppable or even undetectable by all but maybe the very latest systems, and even major powers like the US or China are vulnerable to air strikes from the Yemeni rebels? Quite alarming.
 

Tirdent

Junior Member
Registered Member
Judging from the size of the bird it probably needs to take off and land on its own instead of hitching a ride off another plane.

Yes, as indicated in my earlier post that is my impression too. It has landing gear, so at the very least is expected to make a runway recovery and then there's the question of launch platform to consider if you assume it can't take off under its own power. As you say, the apparent large size of this thing rather narrows down the list of candidates available in the PLAAF.

The Il-76 could easily take the weight but does not have room for anything this big either under-wing, below the fuselage or inside its relatively small hold, Y-20 same (although its fuselage is much wider, I doubt it's wide enough). On the other hand the H-6 has enough ground clearance to carry a bulky load under the bomb bay, but it might struggle with the weight and mounted like that the wing tip fins on this UAV may interfere with the engine exhaust, flaps or main landing gear. Once we get a better idea of its dimensions it should be possible to do a "fit-check" and see if the H-6 geometrically is a contender or not.
 

Tirdent

Junior Member
Registered Member
Guys ... can we leave out the Saudi/Jemen-air war and also this attack as long it is not related to a Chinese UAV!?

Which it probably isn't, if the photos of cruise missile wreckage (Iranian low-tech clone of the Kh-55 supplied to them by Ukraine) doing the rounds now are accurate - the implications for Patriot are even more worrying in this scenario though. You can somewhat excuse a failure to intercept improvised drones as the radars and missile proximity fuzes might be set to reject such low-speed objects as clutter (a relatively easy fix). Cruise missiles on the other hand are very much part of Patriot's job description, and the Iranian Kh-55 clone isn't even particularly stealthy by modern standards!
 

vincent

Grumpy Old Man
Staff member
Moderator - World Affairs
Which it probably isn't, if the photos of cruise missile wreckage (Iranian low-tech clone of the Kh-55 supplied to them by Ukraine) doing the rounds now are accurate - the implications for Patriot are even more worrying in this scenario though. You can somewhat excuse a failure to intercept improvised drones as the radars and missile proximity fuzes might be set to reject such low-speed objects as clutter (a relatively easy fix). Cruise missiles on the other hand are very much part of Patriot's job description, and the Iranian Kh-55 clone isn't even particularly stealthy by modern standards!

Can one have its Patriot missile battery on 24/7 at all times?
 

Deino

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Registered Member
During the rehearsals for the 1st October parade three UAVs were spotted again ...

The first one is clearly a GJ-2 Wing Loong II, the second one looks like the Sharp Sword UCAV and the third one is new to me (eventually "a ground-effect drone or a target drone" (via Henri K.)), ....


GJ-2 Wing Loong II for parade - 20190921.jpg
Dark Sword for parade - 20190921.jpg
unknown UAV for parade - 20190921.jpg
 

Tam

Brigadier
Registered Member
It is used as a stealth target drone but it might have combat potential on its own.

Tweets by @mssn65

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モスクワで開催された航空ショーに出展された砺剣-1(LI-1)ステルスUAV
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>中国西安科為航空科技が自主開発したUAVで、F-35ステルス戦闘機の性能指数や特徴をもとにしてJ-20などの戦闘機が実戦的な対抗演習を行うことを可能とする標的機として運用することを想定 (続く)
Translated from Japanese by Google
Sword-1 (LI-1) stealth UAV exhibited at an air show held in Moscow
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> A UAV developed independently by China Xi'an Science Aviation Technology, a target that enables fighters such as J-20 to perform practical combat exercises based on the performance index and characteristics of F-35 stealth fighter Assumed to be operated as a machine (continued)

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>LI-1は最大9Gまでの機動が可能で、F-22などの空中機動を再現し得るとのこと。ステルス性についてはRCS値0.02㎡とF-22の0.017㎡(記述ママ)に近い数値 >将来的にはステルス戦闘機と連携して運用されるステルスUAVとしての発展もあり得るとの見通しを示している (終わり)
Translated from Japanese by Google
> LI-1 is capable of maneuvers up to 9G, and can reproduce airborne maneuvers such as F-22. For stealth, RCS value of 0.02m2 and F-22 of 0.017m2 (description mama) > In the future, it is expected that there may be development as a stealth UAV operated in cooperation with stealth fighters (end)



EEUFR3mUYAAvBtq.jpeg EEUFSQFUwAUP20z.jpeg
 

by78

General
Ch-4 production line...

48798125841_237a6e90ae_o.jpg

48798125901_19ac8f958d_o.jpg

48798269677_476535f75d_o.jpg
 
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