Chinese MALE, HALE (and rotary, small, suicide) UAV/UCAV
- Thread starter Blitzo
- Start date
Speaking of which, do we know if the WS-9 on the Jetank UAVs are taken from the retired JH-7/As and refurbished + afterburner section removed, or does the Jetank use brand new WS-9 engines?
Supposed engine
Those are good parameters. They improved an old engine to have the same TBO and lifespan as US engines from the '90s.
JIutian mothership equipped with Non-afterburner variant of WS-9.
official promo released at Zhuhai airshow last year.
Engine is most likely taken out from retired JH-7 aircraft and refurbished then used in this UAV. newly manufactured engine doesn't make sense. you need to re-open closed production line with tools/equipment and skilled technicians. its only possible when you are planning to produce this UAV in hundreds.
so WS-9 production largely depend on this UAV serial production.
Last edited:
Well there must be at least 400-600 WS-9s in the JH-7 fleet, if we assume 2 per aircraft installed plus spares (1 per aircraft?).
yeah, the guancha guys actually talked about this exact topic today. Seems like the team behind WS-9 project kept working on it with different proposals and the non-AB one finally found a customer.
lcloo
Major
I am quite interested in the meaning of YZ. YZ is normally short for Yan Zheng 验证 - Chinese for Verify or Verification.
If WS-9YZ is in deed a verification engine, that means it is porbably a one off engine for testing only and after verification process is completed they would either start production of new improved engines or they would upgrade the existing stock of WS-9 engines, including engines from retiring JH7, and instal them on Jiutian UACV.
If WS-9YZ is in deed a verification engine, that means it is porbably a one off engine for testing only and after verification process is completed they would either start production of new improved engines or they would upgrade the existing stock of WS-9 engines, including engines from retiring JH7, and instal them on Jiutian UACV.
This would be a pretty smart move actually. I wonder if we can identify other components of that airframe as being recycled (landing gear, etc). These drone motherships are going to be rather expendable, so make them as cheaply as possible.