Chinese UAV/UCAV development
- Thread starter AssassinsMace
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That looks almost as complex as putting together an actual aircraft. Can't believe they only cost a couple million. Any reason why American MQ-9 equivalents are several times more expensive?
lcloo
Captain
1. Costs are higher in US due to wages and others.
2. Higher costs of components from contractors due to (1) above and high profit margin.
3. Efficient and complete supply chain lead to lower cost on component acquisition in China.
3. High profit margin by US manufacturers vs Low profit margin in China.
High profit margin on high cost of production vs low profit margin on low cost of production can lead to large differences.
Example
50% profit on $100 cost = $150 selling price.
10% profit on $70 cost = $77 selling price
And also cost will depend on what type of equipment fiited on UAV, as well as the R&D costs.
I know about some of these differences, but I appreciate the reminder. I just can't believe that merely these factors would contribute to a Reaper drone costing well over 10$ or 20$ million dollars, as opposed to a Wing Loon costing just 1-2$ million according to Wiki I think?
I'm happy to given more detail. It's just on the surface, it looks like an absolutely astronomical difference.
I mean I can accept a 052D costing a third of an Arlgeigh Burke. But similar drones having 20x or 30x difference? Seems absurd.
Profit margins are definitely the biggest factor here.
There is also cheaper material costs in China, MIC advertising, taxes, how the delivery is handled (China might have footed the bill here using Chinese shipping companies), the way development costs are footed by their respective governments also play a role. I also imagine some kickbacks for political support might be factored.
The Americans were first to market. Simple as that.
There also isn't much overlap with their respective customers. Americans mainly sell to NATO/European countries and Chinese sell to the rest of the world (with some exceptions). You aren't going to see French or British deploying WL-2s (at least until the peoples revolution) so the Americans can carry on charging whatever they want. Europeans also don't really care about the price, that it works is more important to them. Every major drone manufacturer has sales backlogged for years, so I don't see prices dropping any time soon.
The Turks, Israelis and others are an interesting prospect. NATO/western components at a cut price. They are still reliant on American and foreign technology, but it's less important compared to something like a latest gen fighter jet.
Possible renditions of (from most likely to least likely, also my wishlish, kek):
1. RQ-180 counterpart?
2. MQ-20 counterpart?
3. Next-gen wingman UCAV?
4. H-20 wingman UCAV?
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Really? Looks IMO very much like a revised GJ-11 with a new intake and maybe (cannot see it) nozzle or exhaust.
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